Nocturnal Fate
by ImpressofChina
Summary: Marceline knows Josh. This was the first person she met and befriended when she was forced to settle into this new place. She knows him. She swear she does... That is until the night of the Anniversary of Hannah and Beth's death. What would happen if one person fights harder than the rest to reach out for him? Could she she save him and change Joshua's predestined demise? Josh x OC
1. Chapter One: Anxious

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** Wow, lots of things I'm going to have to do to make this original and not a bite by bite of the game. This chapter is merely an introduction, so don't worry. It will never be short like this again.

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Entering a new school used to scare her. In fact, you could say it still does. She wanted to feel numb about it, but she couldn't stop her hands from trembling or the way her foot wanted to tap without her permission. Her teeth would sink into her bottom lip, wanting to chew it until her nerves were calm since she was forced to outgrow chewing her nails. Her father despised that habit and because she was tired of him fussing about it, she grew to stop and found it odd to see the nails actually begin to grow. That wasn't the problem at hand here! The problem was that tomorrow she would be going to a new school for about the eighth time in her life.

Being an army brat was physically exhausting, but her father promised things would be more stable this time in this new place. And if she couldn't handle it, she could stay here with her grandmother while he changed base. It was comforting to know that he was acknowledging the strain the constant traveling had on her. And how sad she would become when she would have to leave friends she grew attached to in another city, state, or even another country. Why did it take so long for him to notice? Who knows. She was just glad that he finally did.

Her grandmother was good stability, at least to Marceline she was. The woman was grounded yet friendly, smart as a whip yet a complete technophobe. She never had the patience for keeping up with technology and figured she could live without. Oh, how wrong she was! Whenever the woman was forced her hand, having to come to interact with something that wasn't human, she relied on her granddaughter. The woman was so fiercely independent that Marceline could hear the frustration in her tone when she needed help with a "contraption" or "iGroan" as she would call her cellular device. Since what she needed help with was minor, and up to Marceline's abilities, she didn't mind helping her out. Now that she was going to live with her, she suspected that her grandmother would be relieved that her help was only seconds away.

Marceline's feet dragged around the wooden floors. A sigh would constantly blow past her lips and her fringe would fly up out of her face before flopping back down. There was no way she wanted to start her Sophomore year as new, but she didn't have a choice. Her grandmother sat in her favorite chair in the living room, flicking through channels while out of the corner of her eyes watching the brunette pace around. It was aggravating her, but she understood the girl's pain and that's why she had been quiet by letting Marceline get herself together. The girl had a good head on her shoulder, she figured Marceline would let those "first day/new kid" jitters shake themselves away.

"Gran-Gran..." Marceline decided to speak, quitting her pacing and letting her eyes rest on the grey-haired woman.

"Hmm?" Hummed the elderly woman, her eyes slowly gazing away from the television and at her grandchild.

"Did dad call?" She was finding excuses to fill the time. Thank God this place had wifi so she didn't have to worry about being _too_ bored.

"No." Her grandmother replied, "I'm sure he will later."

The woman wasn't feeding into her need for conversation. She was so sharp and to the point whenever she was too distracted by the program she was watching. Marceline shot her a glare, but settled that it wasn't fair to be angry that she wasn't getting any attention. She was far too old to be mad at those childish things. "I'm going to the convenience store."

"Do you know how to get there?" asked her grandmother.

"Mhm, I remembered from when dad dropped me off. I'll be back." Swiping her hoodie from the coat rack, she grabbed her keys and stuffed them into her left jean pocket since her phone was in her right, front pocket. Locking the door behind her, she inhaled the fresh air and was grateful for that little warm breeze that went by.

It was best for her to get used to walking around. Her shadow took her interest until her brown eyes decided to look around. Her fingers would occasionally comb through her hair as she felt fairly nervous. This would be the place she would be living until she was eighteen. How was she supposed to get used to this after spending three years in France?

America was her home, she was born here, but even she felt like a foreigner in her own home. France became such an endearing place with a group of friends from around the world around her. It just felt odd to completely leave that atmosphere and settle for here, but California was a melting pot for different cultures and it was always warm. That was something Marceline could find herself loving about the place.

When she finally found the convenience store, there was a little skip to her step as she reached the grab the door but someone else had decided to open it for her. "I'll open the door for you, my lady~" The playful tone was enough to make her raise a brow but she glanced at the "chivalrous" boy.

He was a good few inches taller than her, but he wasn't crazy tall. She still had to look up at him, she had to look up at most people anyway, but 5'3" was a pretty good height as far as she was concerned. "Thanks." She said with a slight smirk, giving a curtsy to appease and tease him in return. He merely cracked a grin as she watched her walk through before she began to stroll the isles.

All she wanted was a bag of chips. That whole diet she went on where she had only drank that healthy tea was over, and she felt like she tortured herself enough. She had gained a lot of weight in France, she had a hard time staying away from the fatty and carby things. She liked food too much, but that was no excuse to not exercise and eat correctly. She could still eat the things she liked, but in moderation; at least, that's what she promised herself that she was going to do.

A pair of green eyes she had just met were lingering on her, and she pretended to act as if she didn't notice. Her eyes wandered the aisles, trying to remain focused on her objective, but she was feeling too curious to just let her mind only center on a bag of chips. And so, her eyes slowly gazed up to meet with the green eyes of the manner-bound boy. The corner of his mouth rose in that grin she was given minutes ago and hers raised with a smile. Marceline kind of hated that about herself; she always smiled when someone smiled at her. She figured it was too kind and some people were undeserving of such a gesture, but she didn't feel that way about him since he did deserve it for being polite when he didn't have to.

"You must be new." He said from several aisles away from her.

Her eyes smoothly looked away from him, her lips pursed. "What makes you say that?"

"I would've remembered if you lived around here." His head dipped into a slight tilt, "I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can."

Her cheeks puffed up, trying to hold in her laugh. His eyes glinted into a knowing smile as she couldn't help to sputter a few chuckles, "Did you just…"

"Quote the Matrix? Yeah, Reloaded. Something we rarely wanna acknowledge, but it's still apart of a legacy." She smiled as she picked up a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, finding that she was in the mood for the taste of them.

He watched as she was making her way towards drinks, bending her knees so that she wasn't bending over. His footsteps came close until he was right next to her, and she gazed up at him. "Seriously though," he pointed at her in an playfully accusing manner, "who are you?"

"It would be overused and obvious to say that I'm new." Her hand reached for a peach ice tea, shivering when her hand went into the cold refrigerator before standing up on her feet with a slight jump. "But the name's Marceline. Marceline Moreau."

"Foreign." He seemed intrigued, "Sounds kinda French-y."

"Ah-ha! So the boy is smart as well as he is chivalrous!" She nodded as she watched him impishly roll his eyes as he couldn't help but chuckle, "But you're right on the money. I'm only half-French, and I just came back from France too."

He seemed interested with the way he kept his eyes steadily focused on her. "Your English is perfect, I don't even hear an accent."

"That's cause I was born here. My mother was French. So I guess you can say that I am French by blood but not by nature. My dad was stationed there and so that's why I lived there for a few years." Why in the world was she getting into a discussion like this with a random guy in the convenience store? She had to been truly and desperately bored.

"Interesting." He mused, "So that means you'll probably be going to the same school as me."

Her ears perked up at that, "What school is that?"

"Uni High, no doubt." It was true. That was exact school was going to. "I met the new girl before she officially steps into the school. Does that give me any points?"

Arching a brow, she tilted her head inquisitively. "Points? What kind of points?"

"If you throw a party, won't I get the first invite? After all, I met you first." She was almost glad it wasn't perverted as she had expected it to be.

Shrugging, she gave him a small smile. "I don't see the problem in that."

"Alright, I'm already in your favor." Marceline didn't plan to throw any parties. She was sure her grandmother wouldn't want any, but if she ever did she would've been glad to have—wait, she didn't even know his name.

The brown-haired boy was making his way towards the counter, placing junkfood down. He must've been in the mood for snacks too, she mused. She made her way towards the counter, standing next to him without much of a choice.

He looked at her rather briefly as she forced her eyes to look everywhere but at him. It made her wonder why their conversation just stopped. Did he lose interest that quickly? He paid and then walked to the door and she kept her stare focused on the cashier pricing up her chips and drink.

"Do you need a bag?" asked the cashier, and Marceline shook her head. It was two things, she could handle that and she was terrible at recycling.

He was already gone, which disappointed her. She pushed her shoulder against the door to open it, just to find herself stumbling forward when it was opened for her around the same time. Her feet managed to keep her from crash landing onto him and he looked at her with that lively glint in his eyes.

"Josh. My name's Josh."

 _'Josh, huh?'_ She thought to herself, unable to break away from the steady eye contact. _'It's probably short for Joshua, but no last name? Figures. He's going to want me to chase him tomorrow, isn't he?'_

She stood like that for several minutes before gathering herself, her eyes averted as he had let go of the door once she was faraway from it to not be harmed by it. Her eyes noticed an expensive car and he was walking right towards it. _'And he's rich too? This school is probably full of loaded kids. Shit, I have to make a good first impression.'_ That obviously meant she had to best in her best clothes. She couldn't wear her favorite pair of jeans and old boots. She would have to dress up in her brand new clothes that still had the tags on them.

Before Josh had entered the car, he looked towards her as she was ready to head her way back home. "Want a ride?"

Glancing at him from over her shoulder, she slowly turned around with hands behind them steadily holding onto her things. "You've opened the door for me, twice. I can't owe you any more favors."

"That's just common courtesy." Leaning against the car, he watched as she seemed to be contemplating.

Her feet wanted to play a game, and so she took several steps back while still facing him. "I'll pass this time, Ser Joshua~" With a bow, she gave a grin. "I bid you adieu."

He couldn't help the grin on his face, his head slowly shaking in disbelief. "I'll be seein' ya!" He shouted before climbing into his car.

"Don't miss me too much." With a slight wave, she headed her way home and she found her anxiety about starting a new year at a new school slowly started to turn into excitement.


	2. Chapter Two: The Gang

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! The first couple of chapters will center on how Marceline integrates into the group and the individual friendships/relationships she makes with them. So, you have to be patient until the lodge scene and I'll add it to the first chapter when I get to that point. The story, right now, is taking place three years before Josh's revenge and 2 years before Hannah and Beth's death. So, just in case anyone is confused, Josh is a junior at the moment and the rest, well, that's pretty obvious what they are since he's the oldest. I'm debating if I want to do an intro for Marceline like the character's have and relationship chart down the bottom. I'll add it if people would like it.

 **Aplin** : Thank you! I'm trying to make as much original content as I can so you can understand Marceline as a person, grow to like/love/hate her and get inside her mind a little as well as see how she fits into the group. I don't want you guys reading the _same_ kinda story and not feeling surprised or empathetic. I'm trying my super best.

 **Linda Ku:** Omg, thank you. _/ wipes tears )_ For some reason, I almost sometimes mistake Josh for Tahno from TLOK because of Rami's voice, which I try to hear in my head through the dialogue I write. I feel like that's what helps Josh come natural for me even though Josh and Tahno are _way_ different, but they have a flirtatious way about them but Tahno is suave and Josh is a bit awkward with it. I dunno how that helps me, but I'm glad it is working.

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There was one thing Marceline thought made her the strangest. Abnormal among the normies. It was the fact that she was a morning person. What could she say? She loved waking up in the morning. She was that person who enjoyed hearing the sound of birds singing their songs with the sunlight peeking through the blinds and on her skin. It sounded crazy because how could one enjoy being, well, awake so early in the day? The only off-putting thing about it, for her, was the fact that she would be going to school. Mornings were great when school wasn't on the agenda. Yet, that excitement that came along with what the day would bring would wash over any ill feelings she had about it. Unless there was an exam, but that wasn't something for her to worry about right now of course.

Her room, at the moment, was honestly a mess. Her grandmother nagged at her last night about having an outfit prepared already so that she wouldn't spend all morning looking through clothes. Her precious Gran-Gran liked to be organized while Marceline preferred that "make shit up as you go" way of life. She supposed that because she was sixteen that it was okay and she couldn't live by that way of life as she got older. It was most definitely okay ( she reason to herself ), only a couple more years should she start getting serious. For now, she could lollygag if she wanted to.

It took half the night for her to find something that she would like. Marceline had to thank God for California's warm weather because she could wear something light. She settled for a white tank top with a thin, pink and white plaid shirt to go over it. She knew for a fact that some schools hated the sight of cleavage and a bra strap, for what reasons unknown to her. Maybe because the people of France embraced showing skin more than they condoned modesty that she was not used to coming back to America. Her plaid shirt had sleeves that were neatly rolled up a few inches above her elbow. Next, she threw on her new blue skinny jeans and a pair of clean white sneakers.

Her eyes traveled to something gold and shiny on her dresser, which made her eyes soften upon the sight of it. Chewing on her bottom lip, she slowly slid it through her hand and let it wrest on her wrist, she smiled at the instant sense of comfort she got from it. It was really hard to part with the bangle. Her eyes looked up the mirror and at her messy hair. Picking up her brush, she had brushed her brown locks until they were straight since her hair was still somewhat drying from the shower.

Looking herself over, she scrunched up her nose. "Hmm…" Marceline was beginning to have doubts. Seriously, was this okay? Did this gold even match anything? The buttons her plaid shirt were silver. Still, this was a memento and she didn't want to leave it home. She never left it. Maybe she she should change the shirts, that would make her feel better.

Taking off the plaid shirt, she changed into a black button up with short-sleeves but left it unbuttoned. There, that was better. Black was always better in her eyes. Looking at the clock on her wall, she was relieved that she had minutes to spare because smelling her grandmother's cooking was driving her insane. She could clean her room when she came home from school but she knew her grandmother would be angry about it once she discovered it. And so, with a quick swipe, she grabbed her babyblue backpack and then her cellphone before closing her room door and heading downstairs.

"Gran-Gran, are you making some panny-cakes?" Her voice was a mixture of childish and sing-song, knowing that way the way she escaped lectures and got her way. It felt good being the only child sometimes because it was easy for her to remind her family that she was the baby and should be treated as such.

Her grandmother peered over her shoulder, watching the brunette's head poke into the kitchen from the doorless door frame. "Nope. I'm cooking the cat."

"You would never cook, Riley!" Marceline knew the woman was teasing, she could see the white cat sitting next to the old woman's feet with his head tilted back in observation.

"You never know." A shrug danced across her grandmother's shoulder and ushered a pout from Marceline. She slowly made her way to the table, placing her bookbag on the floor and checking through her pictures. When she was in bed, she had taken a selfie with her hair messy and an angry pout on her face. She didn't know what message she was going to put with it, but she knew she was definitely going to put it on her Instagram. She uploaded it then with a message that read: "First day of school and I'm already looking like a tragedy."

With a grin, she sighed happily when the stack of pancakes were placed in front of her with a glass of orange juice on the side.

This was what dreams were made of.

"Pops was so right about living with you, Gran-Gran. Homecooked meals? Hell to the yes!" Placing her cellphone down and picking up her fork and knife, she began to dig in without another word.

"You're sixteen and can't even boil water." Her grandmother commented while filling up Riley's bowl, "What am I going to do with you?"

With her mouth full of food and syrup coating her pink lips, she gave the woman a cheeky smile. "Love me~"

With a look of disgust as she said it with a mouth full of food, her grandmother couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes. "As if I have a choice."

When breakfast was gone, Marceline dabbed a napkin across her lips and brushed her teeth again. As her grandmother began washing dishes, Marceline hugged the small woman from behind. "I love you, Gran-Gran. I'll be home right away, okay?"

"I know, Marcy. Have a good day at school." Pressing her lips on her grandmother's cheek, she picked up her things while blowing kisses at Riley before walking out the door.

Walking wasn't so bad, and it was what she decided to do. The school wasn't far from her and walks were good, she needed the exercise. Her dad, however, was a little late on his promise to buy her a car. It didn't upset her since he was known for being a lot on a lot of things, so she couldn't possibly hold it against it. In fact, she deduced that as his "fatherly" charm and that it was cute to watch him fumble and curse when he had totally forgot what he was meant to do for her. She used to have a Moped in France, and a was grateful she couldn't take it with her. For some reason, she felt like that it was a little embarrassing to have on her first day.

The pressure of being sixteen and being new; it made her stomach want to curl up in a tight knot. Yet, whenever she remembered Joshua from yesterday, she eased her stress. If everyone was as nice as he was then there would be no reason to worry, right?

The sound of conversations, music blaring from a pair of headphones, and even the wheels of skateboards filled her ears. Her eyes scanned around the place, marveling at how big the school grounds were. Already, she could tell that she was going to get lost fairly easily. Her face began contorting into one of discomfort before a sigh left her lips. Her pride wouldn't let her ask for help, but the anxiousness she thought that would finally went away came flood bag. She couldn't mope. So, as she should, Marceline carried on with her steps albeit slowly as she looked around and studied the unfamiliar faces of her new peers. The main thing you hated upon entering a new school was the overpour of cliques you would see. So many groups of friends with the occasional loners, but even they had people they could talk to. She had no one except Josh but she couldn't pester him until she made friends.

Pulling out her cellphone to look busy, Marceline looked through her Instagram and looked through her timeline. She could see her old friends wishing her luck after the selfie she posted. A smile came across her face at the hurrah of supports in the comments from her France friends, and even older friends from parts of the globe. Their words of encouragement made her happy. But what surprised her among the throng of notifications, she had noticed that she didn't see that notification on her messages at first. Clicking on it, she was surprised to see a message from Joshua:

 **"So that's how you look in the morning, huh? Can't say that I'm surprised."**

With a snort, her eyes crinkled into an eye-smile as she messaged him back. " **So you did miss me. I see you've stalked your way through Insta to find me."**

 **"I guess you can say I'm stalking you right now."**

Wait, what? Immediately, her body had went rigid, brown eyes widening. Her head quickly whipped up, lifting her eyes away from the screen of her phone and turned her head every which way in search for him. She even spun around in place, but Marceline couldn't find him. Was he pulling her leg or did she miss him by a short hair?

 **"I don't see you at all."** She replied back, starting to think that he was actually lying just to mess with her.

"They're coming to get you, Barbara!" Hands gripping her shoulders, giving her a slight shake, and a pair of lips brushing against her ear was what nearly gave her a heart attack. Her eyes were wider than before, her phone fumbled in her hands as she tried to not let it fall, and soon the sound of an infectious laugh filled her ears. Knowing that it was Josh, her heart calmed and her nerves were slowly going back to normal. She immediately turned to him, giving him a nasty glare. "Aw, don't look at me like that. I got ya, I got ya _good_."

Her glare remained but then, as usual and without her wanting them to, her lips poked out in a pout. Her eyes averted, looking away from him and at the ground for a few seconds until her shoulders stopped being tense, finally relaxing. Her bottom lip quivered as she tried to hold in her laugh that finally let loose in a soft and short-lived chuckle, "Alright, ya got me." She caved, hating the fact that she smiled afterwards.

Her eyes finally felt brave enough to look at him, seeing his smile on his face. Before she could say anything, another voice interrupted them. "That's her?" Marceline's eyes quickly shifted away from Josh and towards the spiky, blond-haired boy beside him, sharing the exact same height as Josh. His glasses were thick-rimmed and black, protecting his eyes that were a calming blue.

"That's her." Was Josh's simple answer. Marceline looked at Josh and then at his friend, telling Josh through eye contact that he should introduce her but it seems his friend took the initiative.

"Oh, uhm, sorry about that. My name is Christopher, but call me Chris."

Awkwardly, he held his hand out for her to shake. Marceline slowly shook his hand, "Nice meetin' ya, Chris." She found a bit of her spunk back.

"Don't worry about, Cochise. He's just awkward around the ladies." Josh patted his friend's back to comfort him, not seriously but jokingly.

"I'm not awkward around girls." Chris defended himself, or so he tried. "In fact, the ladies love me." Marceline rose a brow at his narcissistic comment, which she took as a mere joke. His blue eyes then looked back at her, rather nervously, she noted. "She's just, ya know, pretty intimidating."

Curious of what he meant by that, her head slightly tilted as she questioned him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, well…" Rubbing the side of his neck, he then found some confidence. "Can I be frank?" He offered and she nodded. She liked honesty, so that meant Chris got some points for that. "You kinda have that, uh, what's it called…" He snapped his fingers, trying to remember.

Knowing exactly what he was trying to say, Marceline answered for him. "The infamous resting bitch face?" That was something she heard plenty of times before, and so she couldn't help but laugh at the fact this seemed to follow her everywhere she went. "Yeah, I know. Don't worry about it." She patted his shoulder lightly as to give him false comfort. "I don't bite~"

Josh gave his friend a lopsided grin, "I told ya she was cool."

Jumping a little to adjust her backpack after Josh's scare, she motioned her head towards the school and they took that as a sign to walk along with her. "What classes do you guys have?" Changing the topic, she decided to learn as much as she can about the school. "I have some guy named Mr. Bartash for Biochemistry."

"You mean Mr. Buttrash?" Chris said, making Marceline tilt her head back in a hearty laugh with her arms wrapped around her stomach. Man, did she not see that coming! "He is literally the worst." His hand then rested on her shoulder, shaking his head. "I honestly feel sorry for you."

"Man, what the hell did I get stuck with?" It was hard to believe that she could talk since she couldn't stop laughing. Her hand went up to wipe a tear that pooled at the corner of her eye from how hard she laughed. She still had a hard time keeping herself together. Buttrash just kept echoing in her head over and over again. How was she going to face this man with that on her mind?

Josh shook his head, "No, really." His voice took a little serious turn, "He sings all the time, girls aren't allowed to have strong perfume and lotion stuff or he'll lose his shit. Some girl used lotion in his class and he literally went through the ceiling."

"Why?" She asked.

Chris decided to add into the story, "Because she lied about using it. He did an inspection to find the smell and smelled her hands. He felt so hurt by it; he practically was like Julius Caesar, 'Et tu, Brute?'"

And she thought just making friends and fitting in would be what would stress her the most, but it was actually the strange teachers within the school? She totally wasn't expecting that. "But I'm sure you'll be fine, your perfume is pretty nice and not burning my nostrils to hell." said Josh.

"Were you sniffing me when you scared me?" Marceline rose a brow, giving him a rather skeptical expression.

"I was right behind you." He quickly summoned a reason, "It was practically wafting right into my nose, y'know."

She knew that was the case, but decided to tease him as he teased her. Her revenge was nothing compared to his but nonetheless, revenge. "Chris, psst!" Leaning over towards the blond's, she felt him bend down and lean in so that his ear could be pressed closer towards her. "I think your friend likes me~ Or does he just go around sniffing every girl he knows?" Her whisper was loud enough for Josh to hear even though she pretended to make it only loud enough for Chris ears only.

Playing along with her game, Chris audibly whispered back. "I always thought Josh had creepy tendencies. Who knows, he might always sniff me when I'm not looking too."

"Really guys!" Josh cried out, smiling as the two laughed at his childish cry. "No, really, I'm not some weirdo that goes around sniffing people."

"I know, Josh. I was just messin'." She said with a knowing smile.

Pointing his fingers at her, he gave her a nod. "Ah, I see, you were "joshing" the Josh." Shaking her head, she couldn't hold back her laugh.

"That was _so_ lame!" Lightly, she pushed him his shoulder as they made their way inside the school and into the busy halls.

"You should come sit with us at lunch." Josh then offered, "That is, if you have our lunch."

Pulling out the schedule she received in the mail, her eyes scanned over the paper. "I have…" She squinted until she found the information, "fourth period lunch."

"Right with us." Josh held his hand out for a high-five, and once she freed her hands from the paper and her cellphone, she slapped her hand against his. "You'll get to meet the rest of our ragtag group"

"And Josh's sisters." Chris added, which piqued Marceline's interest.

"Sisters?" She echoed questioningly, her brow raised and her eyes glazing over with curiosity.

Josh studied the look on her face, watching as she was awaiting for an answer. "You'll meet them soon enough." He played it coolly, taking the mysterious route.

The answer left her annoyed, and having her mind clawing with scenarios and possibilities of what they looked like. Why couldn't he at least just tell her their names or something? "Fine..." She gave in, "Well, I better hurry up to go see, Mr. Buttrash as Chris calls him. See ya, boys!" With a two-finger salute, she opted to risk getting herself lost looking for her class.

"At least she's starting off going to right way." Chris commented, Josh watched the brunette as she was getting farther and farther from their vision. "But do I sense something between you two?"

The green-eyed boy turned to look at his friend with a raised brow, "What are you talking about, man? I just met her yesterday."

"You just met her yesterday and you're so willing to let her meet the squad." His friend shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Doesn't sound like that's somethin' you do with just anyone. In fact, it's something you don't do with anyone." He said matter-of-factly. "I'm just spittin' the facts, bro."

Biting down on his lip, he walked towards his locker with Chris by his side and began to place in the combination with a few twist and turns. "You're overthinking it, Cochise."

"Right right…." He quickly nodded, rolling his eyes with the movement. "I'm overthinking and you're lying."

"And what if I do, Dad?" Josh teased, "She's pretty hot. What better way to know a hot girl then to befriend her?"

Folding his arms and leaning against the row of lockers, Chris tilted his head in thought. "She looks the type that'll slit your throat if you say the wrong thing to her. You're my best friend after all, and I wouldn't want you, well... decapitated."

"She's cool, you saw that for yourself." Placing the textbook from his locker and into his bookbag, he glanced over at his best friend. "You really think she would slice this face?"

"Oh, she'll definitely slice that face." His friend joked, "Probably would wear it too. I'd actually pay to see that, by the way..."

Dishing out a dull stare, Josh shook his head, having already zipped up his bookbag and now closing his locker door. "You're crazy, man."

"Just a little bit." He emphasized his point by making a tiny space between his pointer finger and thumb. " _Just_ a little bit."

 **o**

Christ was Chris right. Marceline wanted to gouge her eyes out in biochemistry with a scalpel. Mr. "Buttrash" was exactly as Chris and Josh described him. He was looney, and annoying. He gave her an assignment her first day but it was nothing that would stress your brain too much. Marceline wasn't a science nerd, but her interest and quick skill in learning the basic things of it had made her able to pass before with at least a B-. She figured that this wouldn't be hard for either, especially since she was a couple of chapters ahead than what the class was on. It was just the simple fact that he gave her an assignment on her first day was enough to solidify that he was going to give her a headache all year. The only shining ray of light in that class was the girl she met. A girl named Beth.

She was a cute girl with short, brown hair that sometimes tricked your eyes into thinking that it was black. Her skin was just a tiny bit darker than Marceline's, who was a pale shade of olive tone since Beth's was a much more richer and caramel color. She had been interested in Marceline's bracelet, which happened to be namebrand. In fact, it was insanely expensive and something that Marceline rarely wore out but because it was the last thing her mother had given her, she had a hard time leaving it at home. It was a gold bangle made of authentic gold with three round diamonds cut into it. Beth's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she saw it, and that's what started their conversation on fashion and the backstory of the jewelry.

Even now, the both of them were walking alongside each other down the hall with the conversation continuing from the classroom. "Wow, she spent eleven racks to get that for you?!" Beth surprise was more than just in her voice, it was all over her face and in her eyes.

"Tell me about it." Marceline remembered that day so vividly, that she could feel the old emotions of shock wave over her as if it just happened. "I didn't ask her to do it though…" She sighed, "My mother came from a family with money, but they stopped giving her money when she married my dad."

"That's pretty shitty." Beth replied, shaking her head. "They were that much against the marriage?"

"Basically." Sweeping back some of the hair from her face, Marceline remembered that sour look her maternal grandmother had given her when she first met her mother's family. It was like they were looking down her, feeling that she was beneath them all because she had her father's blood. He was just considered not good enough and so she was considered that too. That didn't matter though, Marceline enjoyed the humble life her father had provided for her thus far.

Her eyes had watched as Beth grabbed her wrist again, inspecting the craftsmanship of the jewelry. "I was always into designing, so I'm sorry if I weirded you out when I asked you about it. I didn't know the bracelet had a story behind it."

"Dude, chill~" She raised her hand, signaling for Beth to not feel guilty. "I'm not upset." She smiled, watching the relief flood over Beth's features. Her wrist was given a chance to return to her side. "If I would've saw someone wearing something that expensive too, I would ask about it."

"Good, I almost felt I was being nosy." She said, feeling relaxed. "My friend Jess would totally drool over it. I wouldn't be surprised if she wouldn't try to bargain with you for it."

"No way would I give this up!" Marceline replied, "Unless she has mystical powers and trades her powers for this bracelet 'cause that way, I can just create another~"

Beth snorted, "That's devious! She could've did that herself."

"Well, she probably wouldn't have thought about it." Marceline quipped, teasingly shoving her nose in the air with a sinister smirk on her face. "You gotta trick people; sometimes they don't see the whole picture, but you do and you utilize all the information you can get from it."

"Well, I'm definitely scared of you. You're a little _too_ crafty." Beth teased with her brows raised and her eyes in a mischievous squint.

"I try~" She sighed and shrugged.

Both girls fell into a fit of giggles, trying to hold in their laughs as they tried to keep up their serious charade. "Well, I got Mrs. Thomas, so I'll see ya later?" Marceline said, seeing the classroom number right down the hall.

"Find me at lunch." She then said, but then turned to look at Marceline. "You have third or fourth?" asked Beth.

"Fourth, though I promised someone else I'd meet them at lunch." Marceline remembered, she couldn't disappoint Josh and Chris. She already promised them, and Marceline never went back on her word. "But I'll hit you up if I see you real quick!"

" _Someone's_ popular on their first day." Although she was poking fun, she didn't seem too surprised by Marceline able to already have lunchmates. "Alright then, see ya, Marce." With a wave, Beth entered her class.

The sudden nickname surprised her, but it had brought a smile upon her face. She liked it too, Marce was cute. Maybe it was just the way Beth said it that made it sound cute. She would have to hear it from someone else to confirm it. The whole reason why she liked it wasn't because it sounded cute, but because Beth felt comfortable enough to give her a nickname despite them just meeting. Nicknames sure did lessen the distance, and she was glad that Beth was interested in being her friend. She was almost sure that this day was going to be lonely yesterday, but with Josh, Chris, and now Beth, she found that feeling fading away.

As she walked down the hall, she was beginning to wonder if maybe she should've asked Chris and Josh about the other teachers. After Mr. Bartash, she didn't feel all that confident about meeting the rest of them. She wasn't also too fond since Beth warned her beforehand that this class focused on speeches, and there was nothing Marceline hated more than reading in front of an entire class. It made her feel like she was stuck on the highest point of the rollercoaster and the tension of the upcoming drop just stayed and stayed, making you feel like you want to just close your eyes, shrivel up and suddenly die.

Though her fears about this teacher quickly disappeared once she met them. Mrs. Thomas was an attractive woman. In fact, Marceline was sure that some of the students probably had a crush on her even though she was married. Although, did marriage stop anyone these days? Anywho, she had curly brown hair and a big pair of brown eyes, she was also very petite since the biggest thing on her were her eyes. She also greeted Marceline with enthusiasm and a quick handshake. Mrs. Thomas had also had already typed some things up on a sheet of paper that they had gone over that would be essential to learn so that she wouldn't be lost when she gives an exam. At least this teacher cared about their students. She also had assigned seating but allowed Marceline to choose where she would sit. Marceline's eyes scanned around for an empty seat, and then found one beside a girl with her head down.

Walking over towards the two-student, black desk, Marceline slowly and quietly sat down to not disturb the person beside her. The girl wasn't asleep as she thought, but she was too busy writing something in her notebook to really pay attention to anyone else; not even the person that would be sitting beside her for the duration of the year. Glancing at the girl from the corner of her eyes, she had seen a bunch of hearts glittered all over the paper. In the center of the hearts would be: "? & Michael".

Although she couldn't see the name accompanied with Mike, Marceline found herself smiling at the sight. This girl obvious had a crush or a boyfriend, and it was pretty kiddish, but that's what made it cute. Not wanting to pry any longer, Marceline looked over what Mrs. Thomas made for her and jotted some reminders on her phone so that she could keep herself on schedule.

Her classmate, the one who was sitting next to her on her left,, had slowly raised her head and was completely startled by the sight of Marceline. She nearly jumped out of her seat as Marceline decided to give her a rather sly grin, "Don't worry, babe. I'm not here to hurt ya."

"O-Oh…" She stuttered, "I didn't notice you. I'm sorry, I should've—"

Marceline shh'd her, shaking her head. "Don't be sorry. You don't owe me a greeting."

That seemed to relax her, and that's when Marceline fully noticed that this girl looked exactly like Beth. The only difference was that this girl had longer hair, black, thick-rimmed glasses, and a more mature look about her. Beth looked a little more childish if that made any sense. She didn't want to ask because she wasn't too sure, but she really did think she was seeing double.

"My name is Marceline." She decided to introduce herself, "I guess I don't have to say that I'm new."

"Oh, I already knew. I've never seen you before." The corner of the girl's lips rose in a soft smile, "But nice meeting you, Marceline. My name is Hannah."

 **o**

Mrs. Thomas was a two period class, and so that gave a lot of time for Hannah and Marceline to bond. They were already told to quit their talking and so they decided to slide notes to one another in order to not get in trouble for speaking. Hannah was very shy, a bit awkward, and kind of introverted from what Marceline could gather. She was also less guarded when you spoke of topics that she knew of and would easily find herself unable to stop talking. Maybe it was because Marceline was patient that Hannah was willing to become rather loose with her. Marceline even asked if they could walk to lunch together even though they would have to split up. Hannah was grateful for it since she felt awkward walking the hallways by herself at times.

"Can I, uh, give you a nickname?" Hannah nervously asked as they walked alongside each other as she held her books to her chest.

Seeing no harm in it, Marceline gave her a nod with a small smile along with it. "Sure. Give me your best shot!"

"I think Marcy is, uh, kind of cute." The way her eyes seemed to lighten up at the acceptance warmed Marceline's heart. "You can call me Han, if you want."

"Marcy is cute! My dad used to call me that when I was little, but since he thinks he has to be more tougher with me now. He calls me by whole name now for that whole, y'know, authority thing." She rolled her eyes at the thought, "Gran-Gran still calls me that, so it's totally cool and something I'm used to." Tilting her head slightly, she decided to find a nickname for Hannah. "Mmm, I like Hannie."

"H-Hannie?" Her dark brown eyes seemed surprised, "That's a first."

"And it's mine~" Marceline draped an arm comfortably around Hannah's shoulder, who was smiling brightly after despite surprised by the gesture seconds ago.

With curiosity and thought written across her face, her eyes observed Marceline's face for a few minutes as they walked. "You know, you kind of have a weird charm about you." Her eyes then widened, "N-No offense!"

"Weird? Weird like that?" She questioned, almost feeling anxious by what Hannah meant about that.

"Well, you're kinda… Kinda like a guy." For some reason, Hannah couldn't help but laugh at that. Marceline never heard that before, and rose a brow. Did she act like a guy? Her overall definition of boys were that overly tough exterior and over friendliness. Was she overly friendly? Was that a bad thing? Well, it was kind of off-putting when guys were, but was it the same for girls too? "It's not bad. Not bad at all.." She completely cleared that up, "But because you're not a boy, it's easier to feel comfortable with you."

Marceline was still left in a state of confusion, but she accepted it. In a way, she felt flattered by it. "If you keep talkin' like that, Hannie, I might just hit on you."

"M-Marcy!" Flustered, Hannah buried her face in her books as Marceline's laugh filled her ears. They had walked into the cafeteria, Marceline looking around for any sight of Josh and Chris. "You're looking for your friends?" She questioned quietly.

"Uh, yeah, but I don't see 'em." Her eyes scanned around the place but she didn't see neither one of the boys still. Maybe they hadn't arrived yet.

"You can wait with me!" Hannah insisted, "I wouldn't want you to… sit by yourself." That did sound pretty sad, and Marceline hated that feeling. Sitting alone at lunch always made her feel unwanted and weird, but she would always be glad when she found at least one person to spend her time with.

"Alright." Marceline nodded, "Take me to your leader, Hannie~" She joked, which ushered a laugh from the girl in her arm.

Hannah led the way in a steady pace so that Marceline's arm wouldn't fall off her shoulder. She didn't seem to mind it, which made the whole situation feel like they had grown comfortable with one another's presence and touches. Marceline just couldn't see her subconscious need to close the distance between herself and other people. She was that overly affectionate friend, despite her knowledge.

Once Hannah led the way, she was greeted by unfamiliar faces. One person was a boy with short, black hair and big brown eyes. He was wearing a blue Varsity jacket, which gave you the automatic nod that he was a jock. The girl beside him had red hair and doe-like light green eyes with a simple beanie on her head.

The red-haired girl was the first to notice them. "Hey Han, who's this?"

"Oh," Hannah glanced at Marceline and then back at Ashley, "This is Marceline, she's new. She was waiting for her friends, but they aren't here yet and so I wanted to invite her to our table… if that's okay."

"Oh yeah, its cool!" Ashley then gave a friendly smile and a slight wave, "My name is Ashley, but call me Ash."

"Nice meetin' you, Ash." Marceline gave a salute as the boy beside her then piped up.

"I'm Matthew, but Matt's fine." He introduced himself and Marceline gave him a nod. Matthew then furrowed his brows in thought, "There was a girl Josh said he wanted us to meet." He mentioned.

"Josh?" Marceline arched a brow, "I know a Josh!"

All three of them glanced towards her with confused yet surprised faces, "You know my brother?" Hannah asked.

"Your brother?" Marceline pointed at her in surprise, "Oh, oh shit! So you're one of his sisters!"

"Wow," Ashley whistled, "talk about fate, huh?"

Matthew shrugged, "That's if you believe in stuff like that."

"I believe in it!" Hannah smiled, "It was our fate to meet Marceline today."

The French girl never really dabbled into that whole fate/destiny thing. She just thought of this as a huge coincidence for the most part. It was odd, no doubt, but fate? No way. But who was she to dim Hannah's spirits? The girl looked better with a smile than a frown and her eyes on the ground.

"And there she is." Josh's voice startled her. He just had a way of scaring her, even without him trying. Marceline slowly looked in his direction, seeing Chris and Beth walking alongside him.

"Beth!" Marceline's voice was embedded with surprise and excitement. Now she was starting to put the pieces together, "Oh my God! I knew it! I knew you two looked alike but I didn't want to say it in case you two weren't."

"Duh," Beth playfully rolled her eyes, "we're twins, slowpoke."

Marceline had then moved Hannah beside Beth, looking left and right at the both of them. Her hands were on her hips as she realized the crazy resemblance and how slow she was, "Well… fuck me." She muttered in disbelief. "I really am an idiot."

"I'll take the offer," Josh teasingly raised his hand, "since you asked."

Scoffing, she punched his shoulder lightly and he rubbed the spot he was hit with a smirk. "As if!"

Chris had then rubbed his stomach, showing his obvious hunger. "Alright, touching introduction, but can we get something to, I don't know, eat? I'm starving."

"Alright, Chris, hold your horses." Josh tried to calm down his friend. He then tilted his head to the lunch line, waiting for them to follow.

"That line is _way_ too long. I'll wait until it goes down." said Beth, so Marceline took the initiative to follow Chris, Ashley, and Josh to the lunch lines.

Marceline scratched the side of her head, still not getting over that Beth and Hannah were twins. "I can't believe that went over my head."

"What did?" Josh asked since Chris and Ashley were lost in their own conversation.

"That Beth and Hannah are twins!" Shaking her head, she wanted to hit herself for not being smart enough to realize it. "And that they were your sisters! You three look like siblings."

Josh merely shrugged his shoulders, "It's not a big deal." Yet that teasing grin didn't leave his lips, "But just so you always know, you've got the body and I've got the brains."

"The last thing I need right now, Ser Joshua, is Freddy Krueger calling me a cute idiot." He wasn't too amazed that she knew what he quoted this time. Freddy Krueger was an iconic figure, and most people have seen Nightmare on Elm Street. Still, it was a rarity that people remembered half those lines. It was always just him and Chris going back and forth with that kind of thing.

He allowed her to stand in front of him, just like Chris allowed Ash. Marceline decided to turn around him face him, not quite done with their conversation. "It's really no big deal, though." He tried to comfort her. Keyword: tried.

"Nope! Now I've totally presented myself as the idiot. I'm never gonna live this down." Her bottom lip poked out in a pout, her perception allowing her to take a careful step back whenever the line moved.

"There's four other people you can impress." Her eyes lit up at that, "Mike, Em, Sam and Jess. They haven't met you yet."

"How big is this group?" Marceline questioned, "You're pretty popular."

Chris then butted his way into the conversation. "You mean _I'm_ the popular one. My dashing good looks are the reason why people are so attracted to this group; I mean, look at me." His hands waved onto him as if to say 'look at all of this'.

Marceline puffed her cheeks to hold back her laugh, but she couldn't help but let it out. "Oh, Chris. You're _so_ right, how could I be _so_ blind? You're _so_ handsome. I think my eyes might melt."

"Don't stare at me too long." He playfully warned, "Your eyes will definitely melt 'cause I'm as hot as the sun."

Marceline had then placed her arm dramatically on her head, leaning on Josh. "My little eyes cannot take such handsomeness. Josh, please blind me of his deadly looks."

Playing along, Josh placed his hand over Marceline's eyes. "I'll protect thee. Chris, your good looks will no longer hurt, m'lady."

Ashley glanced at them before looking up at Chris, "No wonder why I lost my sight last year. Chris has been blinding me _without_ warning."

"I'm sorry, Ash. If you knew of my power, I was afraid you would hate me." His hand laid upon his chest, his eyes mockingly looking hurt and downcast.

"Well I definitely hate you now since I'm blind." She joked.

The line was filled with laughs and jokes, earning them some weird stares from other people nearby. Marceline didn't mind it, she liked their games. This what was friends were supposed to, at least to her knowledge.

As they walked back with their trays in their hand, Chris and Ashley walked ahead of the two. "You see those two?" Josh whispered, which instantly made the girl beside him shiver since it was quite sudden.

Her eyes looked up at him and then at Chris and Ashley. "Chris and Ash? Yeah, what about 'em?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Marceline looked back at them and squinted her eyes. Seeing as she wasn't getting what he was saying, he shook his head. "You're just as blind."

"Hey!" She huffed, "Just tell me."

"Those two obviously have a thing for each other, but they just won't get together already." His shoulders went up and down with a shrug, his expression kind of sympathetic yet annoyed.

Marceline's head tilted, trying to see what he was talking about and that's when she noticed the closeness, Ashley's long stares, and Chris' relaxed smiles. Oh, it was definitely there; this is what people call chemistry, and not the kind that dealt with the periodic table.

"Oh." Her face was in an expression of surprise, "Why hasn't anyone, I dunno, _stepped_ in?"

He shook his head, "We keep thinking they'll get their heads together, but it might just take a while. I'm trying to be patient."

" _You're_ trying to be patient? It's not even _your_ relationship." She nudged his side with her elbow, "But that's pretty cute, how much you're lookin' out for your buddy ole' pal, that is."

"I try." Josh attempted to be modest, "But seriously, it's annoying as hell. All Chris does is talk about Ash but he won't even make a move."

"Maybe he's looking for the right time." She reasoned, taking up for her new friend. "Sometimes the mood and setting has to be right."

Josh looked at her in thought, seemingly taking it in. "Maybe you have a point. _Just maybe_."

"Maybe?" She feigned offense, "I am _so_ right!"

Once they reached the table, Marceline took a seat next to Hannah but before Josh could take the seat next to her, Beth swiftly took it. Furrowing his brows, he simply shrugged and went around the other side and sat next to Chris.

"The gang's almost all here, huh?" Since the voice was unfamiliar, and caught her attention, Marceline had looked up from her lunch tray. Her eyes were now seeing a tall, brown-haired male with that kind of face you can't imagine being among regular people. He was just that handsome. The girl's eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets but then gave a skeptical squint. Yes, he was definitely that "I'm-too-attractive-so-don't-trust-me" kind of handsome. Marceline's eyes eventually softened upon the sight of him despite how much she wanted to be wary of him.

Josh caught her gaze, whistling to catch her attention as he didn't realize she was staring. "Earth to Mars. Heh, get it? _Earth_ to _Mars_."

His joke completely tore her out of her train of thought, "What did you call me?"

"Mars." Josh repeated, wondering if she was offended by the nickname he had given her.

Her lips parted, her eyes staring at him. For some reason, the nickname made her heart squeeze in a good way. She really liked it. She just really liked that nickname. Mars, like the planet? Now, that was unique and certainly new to her ears.

"I like that." The words came flying out of her mouth without thought. Then again, she wasn't afraid to tell him that.

"You do?" His brow arched, watching how her brown eyes remained glued to him like he was saying the most magnificent thing she had ever heard. Did she fancy the nickname that much? Her reaction almost made him feel bashful.

"Who is this?" That guy, that dangerously handsome guy, had suddenly asked.

Josh turned to look at him with a small smile, "Mike, this is Marceline, Marceline this is Mike." He introduced them before settling his eyes back at Marceline.

"Michael Munroe." His arm stretched, his hand out for her to shake. Awkwardly, Marceline slightly inched closer to Hannah at her left, who was staring at Mike as if he was the only person in the entire universe.

Marceline then looked to Hannah from the corner of her eyes, seeing that expression. _'Wait a freakin' minute, Mike? This must be who—'_ At least she was quick enough to know that, and her eyes were now boring holes into the hand that Mike kept out for her to shake. There was no way she couldn't even be her natural, overly affectionate self towards him. It would come out as flirtatious, and Marceline more than wanted to respect Hannah's feelings.

But she couldn't leave him hanging, and so Marceline opted for a stiff handshake, which he gave her a confused look as the warmth of her hand practically disappeared from how quickly she retreated her hand.

Beth noticed the weird reaction, her brows raised as Marceline sipped her carton of chocolate milk using a straw and looking everywhere but Mike as if her behavior wasn't just flat out weird. "Uh… okay." Mike, still lost and wondering what he had done, then said.

"Sorry, I'm late. Mr. Castro was trying to keep me trapped in Spanish." A girl with long, dirty-blonde hair in a high ponytail came running over. She wasn't out of breath as her green eyes scanned over the group before landing them on Marceline. "Oh, hello. You must be Marceline, right? Josh said you were going to sit with us." Her arm was now outstretched, her hand out for her to shake. _'People really do love handshakes around here.'_ Marceline thought but she had done it, and rather warmly too. The opposite of what she did to Mike and she felt somewhat guilty about that. Still, she kept telling herself she did it for Hannah.

"You must be…" Out of the names Josh told her in the lunch line, the only one that seemed to fit was… "Sam, which is short for Samantha, right?

"Yep!" The blonde-haired girl smiled, "Let me guess, you guessed, huh?"

Slightly embarrassed by that, Marceline let out a nervous laugh. "I most definitely did, but I was right! So no problem, right?"

Sam chuckled, "Lucky." She said in the middle of her laugh, "Yeah, no problem but call me Sam. I like that better."

Marceline playfully poked her own cheek. "As lucky as a leprechaun." Then with a nod, she agreed. "Sure, everyone here has a nickname. This makes things so much easier."

Sam took an empty space next to Josh since Mike sat to Hannah's left. Marceline observed Hannah becoming jittery, her face brightening and her eyes alight. It was insanely cute how Hannah's feelings were obvious. Maybe Mike just didn't notice it, right? Most guys didn't notice the obvious, especially when a girl had a blatant crush on them. Maybe Marceline could help her. Michael didn't seem all that bad.

"And I said, "Bitch is so dumb that she can't even find America on a map." And the whole class fell to the floor!" Wow, what was going in that conversation? Marceline looked up to see a dark-haired female, her face contorted into one of annoyance mixed with arrogance. The girl beside her was a blonde with bright, blue eyes but with the same expression as friend. It seemed like confidence in its highest form oozed out of their pores.

"Em, Jess!" Michael greeted them, "My lovely ladies~" Oh nevermind, he was bad. Flirting with two girls at once? That was definitely a red flag. Marceline's whole perception of him changed right there. Maybe it was unfair since he was probably single. At least she hoped he was.

Emily gave him a skeptical look before rolling her eyes, "Ugh, you're such a creep sometimes, Michael." But there was some flirtation, at least Marceline's thought there was, that drawled out of the girl's voice.

There was obviously something going on between the two of them. That much was clear, and it made her heart ache since the look on Hannah's face was like a wounded puppy. "Who's that?"

Marceline pointed to herself, "Me, right?"

"Uhm…" Jessica looked around before focusing her blue eyes on her as an obvious sign, "yeah?"

There was sarcasm there, and Marceline definitely picked up on it but she chalked it up because who else would she be talking to? It was pretty dumb for her to ask. "My name is Marceline." She introduced herself, "I'm new to this school and Josh and Chris kinda hook, line, and sinker'd me." Giving Josh a playful wink, Josh looked back and forth between the trio of girls. He was far too curious of how well Emily and Jessica would take to Marceline.

"I'm Jessica, and this is Emily." Jessica took it upon herself to introduce them both.

"Nice to meet you." Emily didn't sound enthused, but what could Marceline expect? Not everybody was friendly, and she could tell that Emily definitely wasn't the type. Maybe Marceline was reading into things too much. She tended to do that.

Emily went back to talking to Michael, who immediately responded to her. The way Emily gave certain expressions and the tone of her voice was definitely telling her that Emily was at least into Michael, and the boy might be feeling the same. Since she had no clue, but she knew how this situation would affect her friend, Marceline had then shifted her focus elsewhere. She wrapped her arms around Hannah's shoulders, whispering in her ear. "It's okay, Hannie."

The brown-eyed girl was surprised by the words and the gesture, but she had relaxed and managed to create a smile. "I'm fine, Marcy." She tried to assure her, but Marceline knew better. She went down this route before but she wasn't going to allow Hannah to endure it alone.

"I know you are but I was just making sure." Marceline felt this strange need to protect Hannah right then. It was always people that were shy and reserved like her that needed protection the most. Even though she could tell that her and Sam seemed quite close from their conversations during lunch, it didn't hurt to have another person in the bleachers rooting for her too, right?

 **o**

School was finally over.

Just knowing that had made Marceline want to scream at the top of her lungs with arms in the air, but her body was way too tired for something like that. The anxiety, the excitement, and meeting new people had completely wiped her out. Besides, she had a condition which made her body tire easily. She knew she shouldn't have overexerted herself but she just couldn't stop her personality. As soon as she got home, which she was straight going to, she was going to fall right onto her bed and try for a nap. A nap? Hell, it was probably going to turn into full on sleep from how heavy her eyes certainly felt.

She was practically dragging her feet and she was in no mood to walk. Walking in the morning was fine, but now? After all she went through? Hell no. She would have to get on her father's ass about a car. She couldn't do this. This wasn't the way of life for her.

"Hey!" It went in one ear and out the other. She was way too tired to acknowledge that someone was calling out to her, "Hey! Mars!"

Her ears twitched, her head moving and her eyes slowly looking to her right. "Josh?" She said rather drowsily, rubbing her eyes.

"Whoa," His eyes looked her over, "you look like hell."

"I feel like hell." Reaching out her arms, she moved her legs in a jumping motion. "Ser Joshua, carry me home so that thy lady can sleep."

"Sleep? Already? Wow, don't tell me we tired you out?" He knew very well she didn't mean to actually pick her up. He was tempted to, but seeing her arms fall to her side as she tried to keep her eyes open, she obviously hadn't meant it.

"Why? Did you want to do something?" Marceline asked.

The corner of his mouth twitched, "Was it obvious?

"Why else would you be worried if I'm tired or not? You only say that if you're curious if someone wants to hangout or not." Her intelligence was strange. She was blind to obvious most of the time, but now? She was all knowing. Maybe it was because she was tired and her mind was finally slowing down.

"You caught me. I did want to hang but you obviously can't." Awkwardly, he rubbed the back of his head. "I can give you a ride…"

Immediately, she shook her head. "No, nope!" She crossed her arms, making a 'no way' gesture. "You've done enough for me. I can't keep letting you do things for me. My I. O. Us are getting outta control here."

It was almost funny watching her staggering but it was also painful to watch. "There's no way I'm letting you walk home like this." How could he drive home without worrying if she was going to fall asleep right in front of the school building?

"Josh, please—Ah!" Like a sack of potatoes, he he threw her over his shoulder. She flailed her arms and kicked her feet, but he was too persistent in getting her home and she was definitely weak from fatigue. "Josh! What the hell?!"

"I'm taking you home. You're a sleepy mess." Josh insisted, "It's not gonna kill ya getting a ride from me. Don't think of it as a favor either."

She was feeling even more indebted to him, and never in her life had she been in so much debt to someone. Was this how it felt when your pride was inflamed? When you felt weak for doing something that you knew that you were capable of doing? Even though Josh's kindness and gesture did warm her heart, she felt guilty about it more than she felt happy.

Fighting was useless. She was beginning to realize that since her body was far too fatigued to put up much of a fight anyway. Did he even know where she lived in the first place? How was he even going to take her there?

She couldn't lie though. When he put her in the passenger seat, her whole body sunk into it. Her hands fiddled with the seatbelt, fighting it somewhat, but she managed to put it on and gave a victorious grin when she heard that click. Her head then lolled side to side, trying to keep herself awake but her eyes were getting heavier and her yawns were becoming stronger.

"I hate you." Marceline whispered once she knew he was fully in the car, hearing the driver door shut and the click of his seatbelt minutes afterwards.

"That actually hurts my feelings, Mars." With his hand on the steering wheel, he shifted his eyes towards her. "Now, can you tell me where your home planet is?"

"Bag." She mumbled, "Look… in my bag." There had to be something in it with address. Her mind felt muddled.

Josh was surprised by her lack of caring of him rummaging through her things. He guessed that she had nothing too personal or to hide, and that's why she didn't mind. Since he was given permission, he wasn't going to feel weird about it. She carried the entire letter with her when she had brought her schedule, which gave an address. Knowing where that area was, he pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive.

His thumb occasionally tapped the wheel, his eyes darting at her and then back at the road. The girl was knocked out cold, and it was hard for him not to laugh. "Who gets this tired on their first day? You really are an alien." He spoke to himself since she was fast asleep. "No," he corrected himself, "you're a Martian."

For some reason, the Washington boy felt like he could get use to her presence. Beth and Hannah were fond of her already, and Chris seemed to like her too. Ashley and Matt's opinion? He didn't know yet since he didn't investigate but Ashley seemed alright with her, and he already saw the odd reaction she made with Mr. President Mike. Jessica seemed okay, but Emily seemed wary, which wasn't new. It made him wonder if soon she would become a person he couldn't imagine not seeing every day like he was with the rest of them.

"And so, the Martian disguises itself as a human of Earth." His green eyes slowly glanced back at her once he stopped at a red light. His eyes scanned over her sleeping face, a smile on his face as he even dared to pushed a few strands away from her face, "Welcome to Earth, Marceline."


	3. Chapter Three: A Promise

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** This feels like a filler chapter, which it kinds is but I wanted Marceline to spend some more time with Jessica and Emily. There's also some Josh moment too, the next chapter should be about the twins at the lodge. So don't worry, I'm not gonna drag this out.

 **Linda Ku** : "Warning! Fluff! Read at your own risk." Would that be a good warning? Lol. It wasn't my intention to write this much fluff. I hate myself for it because sad moments are going to come, and I need to the happy train to stop for a while. Awww yess, that was my intention. Don't calm down! Fangirl to your heart content!

 **Megan** : Thank you, and I'm trying so hard because I'm just worried I'm not going to do a few of them justice because Matt's personality isn't that much shown. So I have to make up as I go for him. And a few them, I can only guess they would act that way. So I'm going on hunches and what feels natural. Haha yeah. I like all of them, surprisingly. I have a love-hate for Emily because I have a friend that's just like her. So it's really an acquired taste to have a friend like that. Jess, although she makes you upset since the joke was her idea and her attitude sometimes, I still think she's lovable. I treat them all like my children. Really? Nobody kind of had a bad relationship with Mike? I didn't know that was rare. I think its cause he's too likable by the end of the game.

 **Chloe** : Yeah, Josh is a flirt. He even made a perverted joke or whatever that was about Ash, so I'm assuming he would be naturally flirty but it would be empty. The only flirts that seem to mean something was to Sam, so I'm keeping him in character that way. Oh, and you'll find out. Not this chapter but the next.

* * *

The worst mistake she could ever make was going to sleep right after school. Since classes ended at 2:19 pm, or 14:19 pm since she was used to the 24-hour clock, she knew she would be awake in the middle of the night. Groggily, she leaned up from her bed in surprise. How did she get home? She didn't remember walking home. The memories of Josh having to drive her home had flooded her head, making her wince as she felt embarrassed about it all over again. Her head thumped back down her pillow, thinking if she suffocated herself then maybe she could die and not go to school tomorrow. Tomorrow. Wait, what time was it anyway? Sitting up, she looked over towards the digital clock on her desk and notice it read 9:25/21:25 pm. That wasn't too bad. Still, this ruined her sleeping schedule. By the time she felt tired again, it would probably be early in the morning and be too close to the time she would need to be awake.

Her arms were stretched the ceiling as she curled her toes and heard them pop. "Gross…" She always hated the sound of cracking bones, especially from her toes. It always sounded painful. Swinging her legs off the bed and letting her feet press against the carpet floor of her bedroom, she stood and walked towards her bookbag that was sitting near her closed door. Kneeling, she dug through it until she felt her cellphone. Pulling it out of her bag, she noticed that she had a bunch of messages. Most of them were from Beth, one from Hannah, and some from Sam and Ashley. She had given them her number when she met them later on after lunch, but the one person she forgot to give her number to was Josh. He should've been her first contact.

 **From Beth** :  
Marce? _/ sent at 2:30 pm_  
Helloooooo? _/ sent at 2:32 pm_  
You better not be ignoring me! _/ sent at 2:39 pm_  
I will steal your bracelet if I find out you're  
ignoring me. _/ sent at 2:42 pm_  
Gonna steal that bracelet so hard. _/ sent at 2:46 pm_

Marceline couldn't help at laugh, reading through all the "threats" Beth had sent to her. She would have to send her a message, and apologize. Her eyes then went to look at Hannah's messages.

 **From Hannie** :  
um… i'm not gud with messaging first  
but message me when u get this, k? :) _/ sent at 2:25 pm_

"At least Hannie isn't hostile." Marceline mumbled to herself, smiling as she felt like she could feel Hannah's nervousness from the messages. Honestly, Marceline thought the girl was the cutest thing since Hello Kitty. Maybe that was weird on her part, but she couldn't help it.

 **From Sam** :  
Are you busy this weekend? You gotta explore  
and I know every place around here. Also, I  
need new gear. Let's go shopping together! _/ sent at 2:50 pm_

Looking up in thought, Marceline wondered if she had gotten her monthly allowance. Last month's was spent on buying new clothes and shoes, but shopping never hurt despite the fact Marceline hated shopping. She was always so indecisive and took hours figuring out of something was well worth her money. Maybe with Sam, she would be able to hear someone to tell her a straight answer if something was worth it or not. Hopefully Sam could be that person. Beth liked fashion, so maybe she could help too.

Lastly, her eyes roamed to Ashley's message:

 **From Ash** :  
omg! why didn't you tell me you were french?  
you have to tell me all about france,  
you can speak french, right? i mean of course you do,  
you lived there… _/ sent at 4:28 pm_  
anyway, we have to talk about this asap _/ sent at 4:30 pm!_

A sigh escaped her, her shoulders drooping. She would have to respond to all of them, she couldn't ignore them. She already ignored them for hours because she had fallen asleep. Combing her fingers through her hair, she decided to text them back.

 **To Beth** :  
oMG OMG OMG!  
I am sooooooooo sorry, Beth.  
I fell asleep and Josh had to drive me home.  
How come he didn't tell you that I practically  
went into a coma in his car? That butthole. :c  
I'm really sorry, and don't steal my bracelet. _/ sent at 9: 27 pm_

 **To Hannie** :  
Sorry, babe. I was asleep. Josh should've told  
you I was dead tired. I mean DEAD tired. Like,  
I was like a baby in his car. :c I'm sorry I took  
so late to rely, don't hate me~ _/ sent at: 9:29 pm_

 **To Sam** :  
Sorry it took me so long to message you back, Sam.  
I fell asleep. But yes! Let's go shopping and the only  
place I know is the convenience store. lol.  
Save my soul, Sam. Please. I need to know where the  
mall is asap! Is Saturday okay? Please tell me Saturday  
is okay. _/ sent at 9:30 pm_

 **To Ash** :  
Who told you I was French? I'm gonna kill them. :c  
Was it Josh? He's the only one that knows! How can  
he tell my secrets? The bastard! Lol But whatcha wanna  
know? I can tell you everything. Don't get turned on by  
my French though, ok? I'm saving myself for the  
beautiful Hannah~ c:0 _/ sent at 9:39 pm._

Now she felt relieved, like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. It wasn't a real big deal but she didn't want to be deemed as those people that took forever to reply to texts or ignore tem. Marceline wasn't that kind of person, and if she did take forever, it was out of her control. Conversations were what kept her going. She loved to talk. Placing her phone on her desk, she bent back a little to stretch and groaned since her eyes were slightly burning due to the blinding light of her phone after adjusting her eyes to complete darkness of her room.

Pulling out a pair of pajamas she decided to wear, she was bent on going to the bathroom for a much needed shower. Once she left her room, she peeked over the banister to see Riley waltzing around the house as he usually did. He had a cute little strut that made you smile because it was a cross between arrogance and realness. She could've swore that in a past life, the cat had been a King, Queen or just anyone of nobility. Maybe that's why her grandmother picked him. Not letting herself be distracted by cats and past lives, she waltzed right into the bathroom and took a long, well-needed and deserved shower.

Out of the shower that she nearly spent an hour in, she had a towel wrapped around herself and one around her hair. "Gran-Gran!" Marceline called out as she peeked over the stairway railing.

"What is it, Marcy?" She was instantly comforted by the sound of her grandmother's voice. She had almost thought that she had gone to bed.

"Did you make dinner? I'm sorry I overslept." Leaning on the smoothly polished railing, she waited for a reply.

"Its in the microwave." Marceline sighed happily at the answer. She wondered what her grandmother made because her stomach felt completely empty and rumbly.

Changing into a pair of shorts and a black tanktop, she practically flew down the stairs and did a sliding halt into the kitchen to see her grandmother preparing herself a cup of tea. Her grey eyes slowly looked at her, Marceline giving her a toothy smile. "School must've been exhausting, huh? I've never seen you sleep this early."

Making her way to the microwave, she opened it to see a plate of one of her favorite foods. Pisto, which was Spanish Ratatouille. "You made Pisto? _Ohhhhhh_ my god!" If she could find the will to cry, she would've right now. "I've missed your Pisto soooo much." Running over towards the older woman, she wrapped her around her side. "Yeah, I had a lot of fun. That's why I'm so tired. I swear I'm gonna get a six pack from how much I laughed."

"You've made friends already?" With a brow raised, she shook her head. "You make friends so easily, it's kind of scary." Marceline pouted, wondering what was so scary about being friendly.

"I don't see anything scary about it." She huffed as she warmed up her food in the microwave after pressing a few buttons. "I like meeting new people. You were popular in high school, I've seen your school photos, Aureliana Serrano~"

Marceline knew how much her grandmother hated being called by her real name. The look on the woman's face was enough to make burst out laughing despite the creeping fear that her grandmother was gonna whack her with a wooden cooking spoon. "You call me Gran-Gran, not Aureliana." The tone in her voice as she gave the warning was enough to send a shiver down the teen's spine.

"I know." Her head rested on the small yet warm shoulder.

A small smile etched on Aureliana's face, the short-lived anger having gone away as quickly as it came. "But who was that boy?"

"What boy?" Lifting her head up to rest her chin on her grandmother's shoulder, her brown eyes looked up her curiously before a wave of realization hit her. "Oh, you mean Josh?"

"Josh?" Aureliana repeated the name to memorize it, connecting the name to the face. Her eyebrow then raised as she cocked her head, "Don't tell me you have a boyfriend already too!"

"No!" She quickly said, unwrapping the woman from her arms and walking towards the microwave, she opened it and wiggled her hips in anticipation. "He's just a friend." Looking over her shoulder, she was given that skeptical look. "No, seriously, I met him yesterday at the convenience store."

Nodding her head, she just gave a "I don't believe you" hum, which made Marceline give her a dull stare. "But you like him."

"I barely know him, Gran-Gran. How can I like someone I barely know?" She asked, brow raised as she dug her fork into the infamous ratatouille. God, nobody knew how much she missed this. Her tongue felt like it was in paradise once a fork full of the food was in her mouth. The spices, the texture, the everything just made her want to fall to her knees in worship.

With a shrug of her shoulders, Aureliana took a sip of her black tea as she ignored her granddaughter's antics to continue the conversation of Joshua. "There's such thing as liking someone at first sight. I think he's a cute, young boy. Pretty eyes too."

"You think every young boy is cute and try to urge me to go out with them." She pointed her fork at her grandmother, eyes slightly narrowed as she recalled the times her grandmother tried to hook her up with some of her friends' grandsons when she used to visit way back when.

"That's not true." Aureliana tried to justify herself, "I don't think every young boy is cute. Some just… aren't." Marceline nearly choked at that, her eyes crinkling and a grin on her face. "It's just been so long since I saw you in a relationship."

"My ex-boyfriend was a dumbass, that's why. I have to be wary of evil men." She froze, seeing the vicious glare from the woman across from her. "Sorry for cursing, but he was."

Cutting her some slack due to the apology, Aureliana nodded. "He hasn't called you lately, has he?"

"Nope!" She smiled, "I don't think he knows my new number. I'll just block him anyway. Ah, I left my phone upstairs." She wondered if any of the girls texted her back. "I'll be back, Gran-Gran. I just need to get my phone." Placing her nearly finished plate down on the counter, she ran back up to her room and grabbed her cellphone. She had received messages from Beth, Hannah, Sam, and Ashley.

Looks like she was forgiven. It seemed that Josh confirmed how tired she was to the twins. Thank God, she was glad they didn't think she lied. The generic ringtone that came with her phone blared, surprising her. However, it was just a number so it meant that it was nobody in her contacts. "Hello?"

"I'm offended," said the voice, "out of everyone, I'm the one that you didn't give your number to?"

Smiling as she new who it was, she bit down her bottom lip. "I'm sorry, Josh. Seriously, I am. Chris doesn't have my number, neither Matt or the others. Just Sam, Hannie Beth, and Ash have it."

"Doesn't make up for the fact that I wasn't the first." She could tell that he was mocking hurt, but she wondered if he really did feel some type of way about it.

"I wanted _you_ to be the first, trust me." She quickly clarified. "You are my first friend, if that makes you feel better."

He hummed as if he was in thought but she could tell that he was smirking. "I think you have to try a _little_ bit harder than that to make it up to me."

"Okay, how about..." Absently looking at her nails, she tried to conjure up the best apology in physical form. "Well, oh! You wanted to hangout, right? So whenever you're free, let's hangout."

"If that's the case then how about Saturday?" Marceline frowned, wondering what time he would suggest. That would cut into her time with Sam if she wasn't careful.

"Well, I was supposed to go shopping with Sam. I think we should be done around eight or nine."

As she waited for his answer, seeing as he went silent for a few minutes, she fiddled with the end of her hair nervously. Twirling the same silky, brown lock over and over with her bottom lip being chewed between her teeth. "A boy and girl alone at night? That sounds like trouble, Mars."

Her eyes widened and a blush rose up from her neck and towards her face, "Trouble? Joshua Washington, are you flirting with little ole' me?"

"I was only kidding. Chris and I were going to watch some movies, of course my sisters will be here. You can come with Sam and I'll make sure to invite anyone else that can make it."

For a second, she was disappointed but the soothing feeling of relief washed over her. Her and Josh alone didn't sound ideal even though they had been alone before, more than twice this whole week in fact. Nothing happened, of course, and so she wasn't afraid of him per se but the fact of them being alone kind of made her anxious. "Sure you were, but I'm up for it."

"Good." He said, sounding much happier than he did seconds ago. "Oh, and Mars…"

He knew how to create tension, having her anxiously waiting for the words that would come out of his mouth. Leaving her at the edge of her seat, the tip of her toes, with her mind racing. How could he do that? He had to have a power. "You should definitely wear that underwear I saw this Saturday."

"W-What?" Confused and flabbergasted, she wondered what he meant.

"You should clean your room next time. A thong on the drawer handle?" He whistled, making her want to curl up and die in the middle of her room. "It was lacey too. That's pretty hot."

"Josh!" Stomping her foot, her eyes shut tight as she couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm only joshing you!" He was laughing and she was fuming. She really thought he saw her underwear due to the clothes that she had scattered around the room. It was possible. "You're so easy to tease."

Burying her face in her hand, her whole body felt like she was in a sauna. Why did embarrassment make you hot? Why not cold? She preferred that better. "You love messing with me, don't you?"

"It was payback for earlier." Josh reasoned, "Y'know, when you and Chris said that I was some weirdo that sniffed people."

"Oh my God!" Marceline couldn't believe he had sought vengeance for that, "That is _so_ petty!"

The fact that he was still laughing infuriated her more. "I think its mainly because I'd like to imagine how you look right now."

"If looks could kill, you'd be ashes right now." It was true. She'd glare him down like he stole her bike.

"I don't doubt that for a second." Trying to bite her lip to keep her from smiling, she tilted her head. "Now I've to pick my brain to think of some movies. Some I can guess that you haven't seen."

Idly swinging her right left back and forth, Marceline let out a hum. "I'm not some horror movie connoisseur. I'm sure you'll find a bunch a movies I haven't seen, but don't bring out any classics. I love black and white movies."

"Heh, if it's like that then we should watch some of those by ourselves." She didn't understand the full statement, too busy trying to prove that she was just as a movie addict as he was.

"You know what would be rad? If there was a drive-in." It was old school, but Marceline thought it was cool to watch a movie like that. "We should go if we can find one."

"A drive-in?" Josh repeated, in thought. "You want to go to a drive-in with me?"

Marceline then noticed how she made it sound exclusive to them both. "I mean, we could invite everyone. Get a truck or somethin', pig out and watch movies! That way, we won't have to annoy your parents by being a bunch of rowdy teenagers, which I bet we'll be this Saturday. Hehehe." Her laugh sounded pathetic, but she hoped it covered up well.

She waited for a response and was quickly given one. "You do know what people do at drive-ins, don't you?"

"This is not the 50s, Josh." Marceline quickly quipped. "If we go as friends then we're fine. Who is gonna make out? Mike and Emily? That's about it. You know Chris won't even make a move on Ash, which is the perfect opportunity by the way."

"You have a point." His answer relieved her, "Yeah, let's do that one day."

"Good. Now, you'll have to excuse me~ I was eating some Pisto and I'm starving 'cause I missed dinner." She could guess that he was wondering what a Pisto was.

"I'll leave you to your, _Pisto_. Never would I get in the way between a girl and her food." Josh joked.

With a smile, she scrunched up her nose. "You're the perfect gentleman, Ser Joshua. Oh, and thanks for driving me home."

"Its no big deal." There was that infamous line. Honestly, he was too nice. Way too nice sometimes. "It was cute hearing you snore."

"I snore?!" She quickly panicked.

"Got ya again." Now she wanted to strangle him. Her heart nearly gave out. "See ya tomorrow, Mars."

"Later." Looking at her phone as they hung up, she tried to get her heart back on track to a steady beat. Talking to Josh always felt like a game. He always seemed to be ahead, and she felt more courage face-to-face, which was odd. Shaking her head from the silly thoughts, she added his name to her contacts.

 **-/o/-**

Marceline managed to survive her first week of school. And she could honestly say it wasn't as tough as she expected to be. She made new friends outside the circle she had met and even met some teachers she liked. Not all of her teachers were crazy. Thank God for the select handful that had their wits about them. Josh made it his mission to drive her home after school, which always ended up with argument with him persisting and always winning. Sometimes Hannah and Beth would be in the car and it softened the blow of defeat. Though she guessed that he was worried since how tired she was on the first day, she couldn't fault him too much. It was just made her feel weak to lose and her debt to him was now becoming out of control.

Since then, Marceline had taken an extra dosage of vitamins. She wasn't as quickly tired as she was before and much more energetic as a girl at the age of sixteen should be. Michael even made more of an effort to befriend her, saying he didn't like the weird vibes between them. She was comfortable with the weird vibes because it kept him distant and Hannah always looked relieved whenever Marceline cuddled up to her and kept herself far away from him. This was how it had to be, at least in Marceline's eyes. It didn't bother her though since she always felt odd whenever Michael was around. That instant rush of distrust would come and made her want to scurry away.

Beth had noticed it too, her weird behavior around Mike, and immediately asked her about it to which Marceline proclaimed that Michael reminded her too much of her ex-boyfriend, but an even jerkier version. She laughed at that but then also defended him by saying that Michael wasn't all that bad as Marceline's mind was portraying him to be. She could be telling the truth but Marceline just wasn't sold yet. Maybe in due time when she felt Hannah was comfortable and she didn't feel that distrust for him anymore that she would try to be more friendlier with the soon-to-be class president.

Her relationship with Jessica and Emily had made some improvements. As Beth knew Jessica would, when they had seen her expensive bangle they gushed over it and asked her nearly a million questions about it. Although the story behind it was painful and she only felt telling a glimpse of it to Beth, she was glad to share the price and when she got it with them, which led them to regularly talk about the typical topics. Emily, although was much to handle, Marceline found her sarcastic remarks somewhat endearing. She was someone you had to have patience for and although Marceline's was thin, she thought Emily wasn't as bad as people claimed her to be.

Jessica wasn't nearly as bad either. She liked to talk about topics that dig deep into people's personal lives that Marceline found herself cringing yet being simply honest to. She was that kind of friend that wanted the "juicy" details and didn't want you to hide a single thing. Despite how honest she could be, there was some things that were too personal to be completely honest about. Emily and Jessica also decided to invite themselves to Sam and Marceline's trip to the mall. Marceline didn't mind it since Emily wore high fashion and Jessica knew the best stores for reasonable prices. It would be fine, or she had hoped.

At the moment, they were in the middle of a high-up fashion story, listening to Emily ramble about cashmere. "This is fake cashmere and this is real, Jessica." She tried to school her friend. "You see how thin this is? And the color? Ugh, it looks dingy."

The blonde rose a brow as she looked between shirts while Sam and Marceline tried to spot the differences too. The non-real one was just a pale shade of the real one, and the non-real one also looked and felt lighter as if air could vent through it very easily. "They both look the same to me." Sam whispered in her ear, "You spot the so-called difference?"

Marceline had tried to suppress her laugh, covering her mouth and looking away. "What are you two _bitches_ laughing about?" Emily glanced at them with a slight glower, her lips a thin line after her question.

Sam couldn't hold it in, letting out her laugh as Marceline's eyes began to water from trying to keep hers in. "Its just they both look the same, Em. One's cheap and and the other costs 700 bucks, that's all."

"Sam, what the hell?" The black-haired girl shook her head in disbelief, "How could you think that these two were the same? This is obviously a knock-off." Tilting her head back to calm her nerves, Emily was about to bust out with fashion facts. "This is _acrylic fiber_ and this is 100% cashmere! _Now_ do you see the difference?"

Sam and Marceline's eyes met, shaking their heads. "Nope." They uttered in a unison before looking back at the Asian fashion guru.

It felt like a vein was going to burst from the glare Emily was giving them.

"This… This right here is an atrocity. It's like a sock with a hole because you were rushing and you really needed socks, but then you're wearing your boots that you can't give up even though they are falling apart at the goddamn seams. And as soon as you touch a puddle, you feel _so_ fucking gross." She said while pushing out the fake cashmere shirt and switching to the real one. "And this, this my friends, is like the Holy Grail of authenticity. Like, a Pumpkin Spice Latte on the first day of October as the leaves fall and crunch under your new cute boots that you bought at a great price. You get the difference?"

"I could really go for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, right now." Jessica sighed longingly, "Let's go to Starbucks."

The look on Emily's face was of pure aggravation. "Em, why don't you just buy the cashmere sweater?" Marceline took the fake one in her hand's willing to put it back before it gave a girl a rash. "I think it would look cute on you."

"You think so?" The compliment was what drove her out of her anger, her eyes lighting up a bit. Just telling a girl she would cute with something was enough to break them out of their meltdown, Marceline realized.

Giving her a nod, "Yeah, I think you should totally go for it. Meanwhile, I'll put this back before you get the hives."

"Thanks Marce." Something told her that this was probably the last time she would hear anything grateful coming out of her mouth. "You were a better help than my so-called _best friend_ over here." Her dark eyes looked to Jessica, who then broke out of her train of thought of what Marceline assumed was about a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

"What? I told you that it would look hot on you and that's when you went to a whole rant about cashmere!" She defended herself.

"Uh-huh, sure you did, Jess." Taking the few items she had liked before the whole cashmere incident, she walked towards the register with Jessica trailing behind. Sam walked alongside Marceline, who was still not over the whole fashion lesson.

Her brown eyes then looked to the blonde next to her. "I didn't learn anything today except a hole in a sock and Pumpkin Spice Lattes."

Sam's smile wouldn't fade as she rolled her eyes, "That's Emily for you." Her eyes traveled to the two girls who stood in line at the cash register, "She's dramatic like that."

"Oh, are you coming over Josh's house? They're having a movie night." It was a good thing she remembered. Maybe because Sam mentioned the word drama that her memory suddenly came flooding back.

With a hum, her eyes squinted as she tried to remember if she had anything to do later on. "I'm totally free. Let's go together?"

"We'll have to stop by my house though." She mentioned, "Beth wants me to spend the night."

"Oh, I'm definitely going to ask Hannah why I didn't get an invite." Marceline could tell she was joking since there was no animosity in her words. "But uh, there was something I wanted to ask you."

Marceline place the shirt on the clothing rack that she remembered Jessica got it from. Her eyes then scanned over a few other tops, "Yeah, what is it?"

"Is it me or you and Josh are _really_ hitting it off." The look on Samantha's face was enough for Marceline to feel pressured. That smirk, her eyes observing every muscle her face had done. "Josh doesn't really let a lot of people in."

For a second, she couldn't believe it. He seemed super friendly and he was kind to her when she was a complete and utter stranger. He seemed more relaxed around and the boys and Sam, he never went out of his way with Ashley, Jessica or Emily. "No way." Marceline shook her head in disbelief, "When he first met me, he couldn't stop with the jokes and pranks. Besides, it's only been a week."

"Its only been a week and he's inviting you over to his house." Sam was bent on proving her point, that knowing smile wouldn't falter.

The brunette stared absently at a sweater, trying to see if there was any truth to her words. "You say it as if I'm going by myself."

"I'm just sayin'." Her hands raised defensively, "I think I might see a couple on the horizon."

"It's only been a week and you're already predicting my love life." She couldn't help but shake her head, snorting at the fact. "Are you a psychic?"

With a hum, Sam playfully looked up in thought. "I think I might be."

"Marce, Sam." Jessica called their names, making them look over their shoulders. "C'mon, we're going to Starbucks."

Nodding, Marceline and Sam linked arms and walked alongside each other. "I didn't buy a single thing, but I can't help but be happy about it."

"Why? Did you already go shopping?" asked Sam.

With a nod, she sighed. "Uh huh, but I thought that buying a little more wouldn't hurt."

"Maybe those price tags made you change your mind." Marceline chuckled as Sam shook her head, "It sure changed my mind."

"Probably." That whole store would blow through monthly allowance for just two shirts. There was no way she could explain how all her money went with that.

As they made their way out of one section of the mall and towards the other side, seeing a Starbucks with its own building connected to the east side of the mall. They had walked in, Samantha going the extra length to politely keep the door open for the elderly couple behind them.

Emily was first in line, Jessica behind her, and Marceline and Sam at the end. She had to admit, she was happy that the lines were small. Usually, Starbucks lines would be long as hell and you'd be waiting almost 30 minutes for just one cup of coffee. Emily and Jessica went with the Pumpkin Spice, their minds still fresh from the mention. Sam got a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino while Marceline settled for Iced Caramel Latte with Whip Cream and sugar.

The booth in the back was where they settled with Emily and Jessica sitting on one side and Marceline and Sam on the other. She liked to eat the whip cream first that had spirals of Caramel sauce, using the straw to scoop it up. "Okay, so, Marceline, spill." Marceline had a feeling she wasn't going to like this question. She could feel it. "Who is the hottest guy you've seen in our school so far?"

The question really caught her off guard, in fact, it made her choke. Hitting the center of her chest repeatedly, she winced as she shook her head. "W-What?!"

Jessica smirked, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm curious!"

Samantha's eyes carefully watched the brunette, Emily giving her a curious look too. All eyes were literally on her in the group of girls, "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Jessica persisted, "You've seen a bunch of guys the whole week. You gotta be crushin' on someone."

Taking another scoop of whip cream, Marceline decided to think of her answer. She wanted to say Josh but then that would confirm Sam's suspicion. She thought Michael was handsome, but then Emily would be ready to tear her hair out from across the table. How could she answer this honestly? Matthew was her third choice but she figured mentioning anyone from the group would be damning. "There's a boy in my gym class that's pretty cute." There was an actual cute guy, so she settled for him.

"Okay," Jessica nodded, "what's his name?"

Her brown eyes looked up to see their eyes were still focusing on her, "Uh… Lucky, Lucky Smith."

"Lucky Smith?!" Emily and Jessica said together, their eyes wide. "You have gym with _Lucky_ Smith?!"

Not understanding the big deal, Marceline looked to Sam for help and she stepped in with a cape and all, "He's one of the most popular boys in school next to Mike." She wasn't as surprised or hyped up as the other two were. That meant Sam wasn't that into him either.

"And he's fucking gorgeous!" Emily added, rolling her eyes as she thought of him. "So. Fucking. Gorgeous."

"He has the bluest eyes…" That dreamy sigh Jessica did was enough to make her happy she settled for that one boy she noticed in gym. He was good looking, she had to admit, but he wasn't her type.

"How is anything getting done in gym with him there?" The black-haired girl said before taking a sip of her latte through the straw.

Marceline chuckled, "Don't worry, Mr. Rosenburg had to lash out at a few of the girls for being _too_ distracted."

"Are you going to try to go for it?" Marceline looked to Jessica, confused by her question.

"Go for what?" She asked, genuinely curious.

Rolling her eyes, Jess leaned on the table. "What do you think? I mean ask him out! Get. His. Num-ber!"

"Oh," Marceline's lips remained in the 'o' shape at uttering the word, "no. He's cute and all but not my type."

"So what is your type?" Emily pried, Samantha gazing at her as she sipped her drink. "You like 'em smart? Dorky? Hot? These are the thing us girls _must_ discuss."

To think she thought shopping wouldn't turn into an personal investigation. Her brown eyes glanced at all of them being rolling them, "I dunno." She shrugged, "He has to be funny and nice. I'm not really looking that deep into it. I _just_ got here, guys."

"Michael is all those things." The way Emily said it made Marceline's brow raise. It wasn't because Emily was insinuating that's who Marceline was intentionally describing but because she was thinking of the boy, her eyes looking down fondly at the table in thoughts of Mr. Munroe.

"So, are you and Mike an item or no?" This was the perfect way to steer the conversation away from her, and because she had to know for Hannah's sake.

Emily's shoulders when up and down in a shrug, "I don't even know. I think he wants to be single, just playing around with these basics because he knows if we get together, there will be none of _that_ going on!"

"That's right!" Jessica chimed in, supportive as ever.

She could see Emily's point, and commended her for letting Michael play. There were too many girls who were focused on their feelings and not considering the side effects of not letting a single boy be single when he wanted to be. Michael would come around, on his own time though. "When do you think he'll wise up?"

"Soon." She answered rather confidently, "He can't resist me for _too_ long."

Marceline was jealous of her confidence. She wished she was like that. Maybe one day she would be bold enough to pursue someone, but for now she was good with sticking by herself. "But have you had any boyfriends? I'm curious because of the whole traveling thing since your dad is in the Navy." Jessica decided to ask, letting her curiosity stay on the table.

"I've dated but I've only had one serious boyfriend." She answered, feeling somewhat comfortable with the conversation.

"Was he a boyfriend from France?" Sam asked, now curious as ever.

Marceline nodded her head, "He's American." She explained, "He lived on the Military base like I did. We were together for two years, almost near three but we just didn't work out." Marceline casually took a sip of her drinking, getting lost in the memories of the silly teen romance between her and her ex.

"Do you guys still keep in contact?" Jessica slowly questioned, seemingly unsure if it was good idea or not by the way she seemed so hesitant.

"No." Marceline shook her head, "Our relationship was unhealthy and just us talking to each other is not the best idea."

At the mention of unhealthy, everyone seemed to tense up. They seemed too afraid to touch the subject, even Jessica who was nosy enough to ask a million other questions before. Marceline was grateful when the conversation went elsewhere again. At least she could relax and not feel like she was under the spotlight again.

As soon as their drinks were done, Emily and Jessica told them they were leaving as they were unable to make it to Josh's movie night. Emily had to study and Jessica had to bake her little a birthday cake since the girl was turning six tomorrow. That sure did answer Marceline's mental question on why Jessica stopped by the baby store and bought cake mix earlier.

Sam and Marceline took the bus to her house first so she could pack some clothes and tell her grandmother where she would be. She almost hated the way her grandmother and Sam got along because they would double team her whenever Marceline questioned if something was a good to pack/wear. They kept thinking that she wanted to look nice for Josh to which her grandmother teased if that was the real reason why she wanted to spend the night in the first place.

After rushing Sam out her home and back onto the bus, they made their way to the Washington Estate. It was practically the size of three houses and they lived in a private gated community with other wealthy people. Honestly, it made her feel nervous and small. Sam led the way, pressing the doorbell as Marceline fiddled with her bag. Samantha must've been used it since she didn't feel the slightest bit of bothered by all of these luxurious houses.

The one who answered the door was Beth, who gave them a smile. " _Finally_ you two came." She opened the door wide enough for them to enter, Sam headed in first and Marceline behind her.

"We had to take the bus." Marceline explained, "And Emily and Jessica nearly kept us in the mall all day."

Beth didn't seem surprised, which Marceline figured that this was a regular thing. "Did you get anything?"

"Nope." She sighed, "Better luck next time."

"Next time, I'll go with you." The short-haired twin offered.

For some reason, she felt reassured by Beth's words. "At least Sam got her gear and Emily got what she wanted."

Sam chuckled, "That's because my gear doesn't costs as much as Emily's clothes. You should come rock climbing with me one day."

"That actually sounds pretty fun." Marceline nodded, "I'll take you up on that offer."

"Sam, Mars." Josh came down the steps from the second floor, his eyes looking at them both. "You finally came. Did the Martian try to abduct you, Sam?"

Marceline's eyes squinted before rolling her eyes. "I'd take Sam to my home planet before I'd take you."

"Ouch," He rubbed his chest, "that burns, Mars."

"Give me your stuff, I'll take it to my room." Beth reached out to grab her bag, which Marceline handed over without much thought.

Samantha had then followed Beth upstairs to speak to Hannah, looking back and winking, which made Marceline realize that she left the two alone on purpose.

"C'mon, I'll show you where we'll be watching the flicks." Josh motioned his hand for her to follow and she picked up the pace until she was beside him. Her eyes wondered around, looking at all the expensive things. They could literally buy everything she owned and it wouldn't make much of a dent in their bank accounts. This was honestly nerve-wrecking.

Marceline decided to shift her gaze, not wanting to feel belittled by the sight of everything. Her eyes then dared to look up at Josh, who was already staring down at her. "What?" She finally asked, "Is there something on my face?"

"No, but you seemed out of it." She could tell that he was fighting on whether he wanted to ask her or not of what seemed to be bothering her. "You alright?" And so he settled for her being able to tell him what she was thinking about.

"I'm fine." Marceline quickly said, "It's just... Wow, could you be _any_ richer?"

The smile on his face looked kind of sad, "My dad's famous for his movies; he's a director and movie producer, so naturally we'd be rich but…"

"That's not all that you are." She said, which made him look back at her with surprise. "I'm not going to treat you any different if that's what you're thinking."

"Good." His nod came out weak but then ended strong, "Some people change when they see money."

"Nothing will stop you from being, Ser Joshua." The brunette leaned to her left, pushing her shoulder into his arm as a playful nudge. "You're my knight. The one who drives me home and covers my eyes from Chris' fierce handsomeness."

It made her happy to hear him laugh, drawing him out from what memory seemed to plague him. She wondered if Joshua was used because of his wealth before. Why else would he be worried that money would change her perception of him? She already figured he was rich by his car. Of course, how rich he ended up being exceeded her expectations but it didn't change her feelings about him any more or any less.

They made their way to the basement that held a movie theater. The t.v. was large enough to stretch across an entire wall and there was a popcorn machine and other vending machines in the hall. There were also props from movies she could recall from seeing before.

"Impressed?" He asked as she looked up at him and then around at the home-built movie theater. "I won't be satisfied until you say you are."

Smirking at this, she hummed and walked away a few steps with her arms behind her. "Maybe~"

"Maybe? What will further impress you, m'lady?" He asked, "Cotton candy? Popcorn?" He then waited for dramatic effect, an eyebrow raised and a smirk. "Not even Cool Ranch Doritos?"

Immediately, she froze in her steps and quickly turned around. "Cool Ranch Doritos, you say?"

"Gotcha." Josh reached into the pantry at the corner of the room, shaking the blue bag of chips once it was in his hand and making her scurry over, but he held it above her. He was teasing their height difference, laughing as she tried to jump and reach the bag.

"Give it, Josh!" Marceline's arms were still stretched out, her jumps nearly not high enough.

His head tilted forward, his eyes staring straight into her own. "You have to say please."

"Tch!" Sucking her teeth, she folded her arms. "You want me to beg for some chips?" Joshua was caught off guard as only three seconds went by and her hands rubbed together, "Pleaaaaaase!" He knew she couldn't resist and he handed her the bag of chips, watching her dance happily by wiggling her hips and shimmying her shoulders.

"I've never seen a girl dance over food." The smile on his face wouldn't leave, "Not that I have a problem with that."

After opening the bag, she pulled out a single chip and took a bite. "What can I say? I love food." She said after chewing and swallowing it down, not wanting to embarrass herself by speaking while chewing.

"Hey Josh, can I hit up a shower? I just came back from the gym and..." Marceline hadn't expected Michael to come and she felt like choking on the bits of Doritos that were still in her mouth.

Their eyes met. That weird vibe that bounced off the two of them came back full force as it always had whenever the two were around each other.

It was the first time Josh was taking notice of it, his eyes glancing back between the two of them as he felt Marceline shrink and take a few steps back. His eyes squinted at her actions before looking at Michael, who looked awkward and confused. "Uh, am I missing something?" He finally spoke up, "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing!" Marceline quickly said, "Nothing..."

Michael wasn't sure how to feel about her answer but he knew she didn't want to talk about it by the way she shook her head and kept her eyes focused on everything else. "Yeah, _nothing_." He agreed this time.

"You sure?" Joshua persisted, "It doesn't seem like nothing to me."

"I'm gonna go for some fresh air." Quickly, she put the bag of chips down and rushed past Josh, practically flew by Michael with a rush of air in her wake as she ran. She went upstairs and desperately searched for a way to the backyard, and sighed once she saw a screen door and stepped out.

The crisp night air was doing wonders already. Her body could finally relax again and her heartbeat could go back to its steady pace. This charade with Michael couldn't last. It's not like she could avoid him forever. And knowing that Josh was wondering what was going on, she knew she would have to explain herself eventually. How? She wasn't even sure if she could put it into words and she didn't want to reveal Hannah's feelings for Mike. That wouldn't be right.

Her hands rubbed her arms, feeling the chill as the wind would blow by every now and then. Her eyes looked down the ground in thought. Before she could gather the courage to go back inside, she felt something heavy around her shoulders. Her eyes widened when she realized it was jacket and it was Joshua coming from behind her to stand next to her.

"Josh? What are you doing out here?" Marceline asked, "I just needed some air... I was going to come back."

"I know." He simply said, "But I just figured you might be cold."

His answer made her smile, pulling the jacket close to her. "I don't hate Mike." She went onto say, feeling as if she owed Josh an explanation. "I just feel weird around him."

"Weird?" He repeated, "Why weird? Did Mike do something to freak you out?"

"No! No..." She shook her head quickly, "I don't know. Its, like, when you meet someone and you can tell how you're going to feel about them already." Her eyes looked over at him, meeting his gaze as she tried to further explain. "Sometimes it's wrong, but sometimes your gut is really trying to tell you somethin'."

His green eyes observed as she looked away and up at the sky, "I know what you mean."

Grateful that he was understanding her, she let out a long sigh. "I feel bad because he probably thinks I hate him. I don't, I _really_ don't, but I don't know how to explain myself."

Before Josh could utter another word, Beth had slid the door open. "What are you two doing?" She asked, which made them both turn around after hearing her voice.

"Josh was just out here talking to me while I was getting some air." Marceline explained, "We'll be back in a few."

Skeptical, Beth looked at them both before going back inside. "She's getting antsy." Her brother said, which made Marceline smile. "Ready to go back?"

She shook her head, "You can go without me."

"Nah," He turned back around, "who cares about a movie when you got this view?"

He was right. Her head tilted back to look at the sea of stars that twinkled around the bright and full moon. She thought you couldn't see the stars in LA but because this area was a little far from the busy part of the city, the stars seemed to come alive as much as they could. It would've been better had they been in the woods, but this view was just as fine.

"Hey, Josh." Her eyes never left the sky but he glanced over at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Hm?" He hummed in reply.

Finally taking her eyes off the sky, she gave him a smile. "Thanks for staying with me."

"It's no—"

Before he couldn't even say what she knew he was going to say, she cut him off. "Next time you need someone... call me, okay? Promise. And don't worry, I won't solve your problems by abducting you."

"I promise." Joshua gave her a small smile, even holding his pinky out for her to take and wrap around his. She gave it a firm squeeze and shake before letting go. "There's nothing wrong with being abducted." He teased, "If it's by the right person that is."

"Puh-lease." Marceline raised a brow, "You would resist if I take you back to my little, red planet?"

"I wouldn't put up a fight." With her brows furrowed, she focused her eyes back on him as he spoke. "I would love to know how the Martians live in their natural habitat."

Marceline couldn't help but smile and pout at the same time, "Am I _really_ that weird to you?"

"No." Josh replied, "I just want to see how many times you can pout within a month." He replied rather truthfully and half sarcastically. "This is about the 80th time this week alone."

"Jeez, thanks." Marceline had then pulled her arms through the sleeves of the jacket, fully wearing it instead of letting it drape over her. "Let's go for a walk."

"A walk?" The look on his face nearly made her laugh, "How can a host leave his guests to fend for themselves?"

"They'll make it. Hannah and Beth can substitute." Grabbing his wrist she pulled him forward, but he didn't put up a fight as she expected him to. Instead he walked alongside her, shaking his head with a grin as they took a stroll to what felt like an endless walk through the Washington Estate backyard.


	4. Chapter Four: A Night to Remember Pt1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** And so it begins. Poor Hannah and Beth. I don't want to do this. Why must I do this?

 **Linda Ku** : I'm glad you loved it. ; u ; That makes me so happy that this story makes you feel this way. I'll give you some more to bask in before I hurt you, but this story has a happy ending so you'll know it'll be alright in the end. Oh yeah, I think everyone gets the big **sister/motherly** vibes from Sam because she's pacifist so it was only natural she sees things like that and her teaming up with Grans helps out in the future. Its only because Marceline makes her discomfort pretty obvious. She's that "conceal, don't feel" person. You know when she's upset, but she tries her best to act un-bothered but it doesn't work. Omg that makes me so happy. Omg that would be amazing, but you don't have to do that. But if you do, I'd totally make it my cover story on Wattpad because I'm considering on putting it on there. I'm dying because the first thing that came to mind was Marsh/Marshua. I'm **_bad_** at thinking of ship names. xD Oh, I'm definitely going to change a few things. I can't tell you. Gotta keep you on your toes! Ohhhhh, you'll have to wait and see about that. asldkfhsdf I adore you, ok. Your reviews make me tear up. All the reviews, faves, and follows do.

 **hodhod2011danger:** I updated quickly as you wished! You'll love this chapter~

 **Chloe** : OMG! That would've been an amazing twist. Why haven't I thought of that? Damn. I should've did that. Same here, and you have to kinda love him because he got Wolfie to like him. Wolfie was everything.

* * *

 **Two Years Later...**

To say he was nervous was an understatement. His eyes were staring at the door as his throat began to constrict, which made him barely able to even breathe. This is had been the first time he came to Marceline's house without Beth and Hannah. How could he walk in by himself? He did it the first time when Marceline practically passed out in front of the school, but that was just an in and out thing. This time... It was going to feel awkward, wasn't it? He would have to speak to her grandmother, who he knew was nice from the first time and the few times before, but that meant speaking to her by himself. The woman adored his sisters and they would distract her with conversation, but since he found the courage to ask Marceline out. Not on a date, but to hangout with just the two of them. Then he could ask if she could make to the Lodge since the last attempts, she had other plans. But how he feeling now, Josh was beginning to feel like giving up was the best idea.

It was too late though. He had already pressed the pad of his finger against the doorbell, hearing it chime from the inside as the wind would occasionally blow the wind chimes would cling against each other to create a soothing song. Josh found most of them annoying, but this set had a pleasing sound and almost made him relax. His body tensed all over again when the door open to reveal the small, white-haired woman. Her grey, round eyes looked up at him, squinting, but then suddenly shimmered with warmth when he figured that she remembered him.

"You're the Washington boy from before. Josh, right?" Aureliana asked, making sure she had the right person.

"Uhm, yes, Mrs. Moreau." Normally Josh wasn't nervous around adults, he did his best to impress them as the son of a big time director and attending many luncheons with stars. Yet, this woman, who held no fame and was merely Marceline's grandmother made him nervous, and he really didn't want to make the wrong solo impression. She was going to judge him for how he behaved now. Not before, not with Hannah and Beth, but now. By himself. How she thought of him was entirely up to him.

"Mrs. Moreau?" She chuckled as she opened the door, allowing him inside. "I'll have to educate you."

His brows furrowed in confusion but it hadn't stopped him from walking inside. His hands slid into his pockets rather awkwardly and his eyes gazed down to the floor, trying to figure out what she meant by that. Other than that, he found himself feeling quite comfortable by the natural warmth of this place. It wasn't a large home but neither was it small. It was what you would consider comfy, or the right fit.

"Take a seat." Her hand extended towards the living room where the fireplace was already lit. Josh's steps were slow, and hesitant, but he found himself taking a seat in the wine-colored recliner. She had returned with a glass of water and handed it to him. He took it kindly as she then sat down.

A silence came between them, Joshua shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a few sips of the crisp water. It helped his throat from becoming dry, which was only happening due to his anxiousness. "I am not Mrs. Moreau, that's Marceline's mother maiden name." Aureliana explained with a soft voice, urging him to loosen up.

His brows raised at this, "Oh… I just assumed since, well…" The words just wouldn't come out right.

"Marceline has her mother's maiden name. Not her father's name." She corrected him, "It was the only way her mother could insure that Marceline would inherit the Moreau's fortune."

Josh could remember Marceline telling him of the strained relationship she had with her mother's family and how her mother had suddenly disappeared. He didn't like bringing it up even though he was curious. His curiosity never got the best of him since he could see the discomfort and hurt when she spoke about anything relating to her mother. He wondered if years of friendship would eventually lead her to talk, but it never did. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"I know, boy. Calm down." Her chuckle made his body continue on the winding road of relief and comfort, "You looked like a deer in headlights." He smiled upon her teasing. "You can call me Mrs. Serrano."

"Ah, I didn't know Marceline was—" He looked at the glass of water in thought.

"Spaniard?" She nodded, "Yes, she is. My family, her father's family, is from Spain. I was born and raised in Valencia." The smile on her face made a smile appear on Josh's too. She was more than proud of her heritage, "I'd like for Marceline to see it, but I think she's pretty tired of traveling."

Josh gave her a nod, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind seeing your family. She's a good ole' granny's girl."

Aureliana's eyes twinkled at that, her eyes crinkling mirthfully. "More like a daddy's girl but I see she was able to cope without him thanks to you and the twins. She speaks highly of all three of you." Hearing that made him, happy more or less. "Since only you came, I assume you're taking my granddaughter out on a date?"

He had been taking a sip of the water while Aureliana was talking, but once he heard her question if it was a date, Josh nearly choked. Hitting his fist against his chest and letting out a series of coughs, he shook his head. "No, Mrs. Serrano, it's nothing like that." He strained to say, wincing at the soreness of letting the water go down the wrong pipe.

"Oh?" Her grey, thick brow rose. "So when will it be a date?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Mrs. Serrano." His heart felt like it was beating 90 times per minute. "Marceline and I are just—"

"Friends." A sigh escaped her, "Still stuck on that? She keeps saying that too. So when will you quit the charades? Who is going to be the one to end this whole "friends" business?"

He had to admit, he could see where Marceline's bluntness came from. In fact, he could imagine this was how Marceline would be when she was her grandmother's age. Josh couldn't help but hide his face in his hand, "It's that obvious, huh?"

"That you like her? Yes. I still remember when you carried her home the first day of school." Her eyes looked up at the ceiling, recalling the memory. "I also remember when she couldn't stop talking about how you and your friends went to the carnival and you won her that giant stuffed bear. She sleeps with it as old as she is. Don't worry, she likes you too. You two even went to prom together. _Prom_. Don't couples usually do that?"

Everything in the world was telling him to believe it, he wanted to, but a small part of his mind that seemed to overpower everything that made him want to believe told him not to. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Serrano, but she likes someone else."

Her brows knitted together, quite skeptical. "And who would that be?"

"I have a suspicion that it's our friend Mike." Taking a big gulp of the water this time, he could feel his body sinking into the recliner as he spoke. "I don't blame her. Not that I like men or anything, but Mike is kind of what all the girls go after. Even my sister has the hugest crush on him. I think that's the reason Mars doesn't act on it, it's for Hannah's sake and he's kind of dating our friend Emily."

The elderly woman looked down in thought, her hands resting on her lap. Aureliana couldn't recall Marceline ever speaking about Mike, or whom she assumed was actually named Michael, specifically. Marceline was hard to figure out, even for her at times, but she'd think she would know about a boy named Mike if Marceline was serious about him. "Tell me about this, Mike boy."

His eyes absently looked at the floating pieces of ice. It was hard to talk about someone that was his friend, and someone he was trying desperately not to be envious of. "He's the son of the senator, Colton Munroe. He makes good grades, he's about to be Class President, and he has that model-like smile that gets the girls all crazy. He's pretty buff too, but I don't miss the gym either, Mrs. Serrano." He teased at the end.

"Well, this boy _does_ sound pretty perfect." She shrugged her shoulders. "But I still don't think my grandbaby likes him."

Josh wanted to believe that, but the way Marceline always seemed to watch Michael whenever he was in the room and how tongue-tied she would be whenever they were talking… It would make sense if she liked him. She never acted nervous or flustered with him. She never looked at him the way he looked at her. "I guess we're both failing at figuring her out."

"That wouldn't be a first." Aureliana tried to smile despite seeing how sad the look in his eyes were. "If it means anything, you have my vote."

"It means a lot, Mrs. Serrano. And it also means, I won't let you down." Grandma's seal of approval did lift his spirit's some. He almost felt confident about just telling Marceline how he felt. If she rejected him, he would be hurt but at least he could say he got it off his chest.

Marceline, meanwhile, was coming down the steps. Her black jeans clung onto her as she was adjusting her flats that were folding in the back. The brightness of her long and yellow, button down shirt was what caught Joshua's eyes as she blinked a few times, seemingly adjusting her eyes. "How come everytime I see, you're tired?" He asked.

"I was taking a nap." She stuck her tongue out as him while pulling her hair up into a simple ponytail. "I'll be back, Gran-Gran."

Aureliana smiled upon the sight of her before giving a Josh a quick thumbs up. He returned it, making sure Marceline was too distracted by her phone to see it.

She followed him to the door and then looked at her grandmother, who followed behind. "Have a nice date."

"It's not a date." Marceline quickly said as her grandmother's nimble fingers were pulling down Marceline's tanktop from the bottom, "G-Gran-Gran, what are you—"

"Show a little cleavage." Aureliana unbuttoned two white buttons, "Live a little. You're what, eighteen now? Act like it."

"Grandma!" Joshua turned around after hearing the embarrassment in her voice. He wondered what that old woman was up to. "I'm seventeen, thank you. I don't turn eighteen until April, Gran-Gran."

"Same difference." The woman then shook her hand dismissively, "Get goin'. Go on. Shoo."

Glaring at her, as well as wanting to hide her red face, she walked towards Joshua's car without looking back. "Have a good time."

"We will, Mrs. Serrano!" Joshua waved, being polite as ever. Marceline's eyes widened at the fact he knew her grandmother's last name, which meant she must've gave him the talk.

It didn't come off as a surprise that the door was opened for her. In fact, she stole a quick glance to see that usual grin and couldn't fight the smile that wanted to spread across her face. "You know..." Leaning against the door to look up at him, she kept her eyes fixated on his. "I could open the door myself."

"What kind of knight would I be if I can't open all kinds of doors for you?" He asked with a tilt of his head, he watched as she slowly nodded, seeing his point.

"I suppose you have a point there." Biting the inside of her cheek, she fought her best not to pout. "You still haven't told me where you're taking me."

"Well, m'lady, you'll see when we get there." Josh urged her to climb inside the car and she was left unsatisfied with his answer. Without a word, she settled into her seat and placed on her seatbelt.

Taking her cellphone from out of her pocket, she was surprised to see a message from Hannah. Before she could type a message back, Josh had swiped the cellphone from hands. "No cellphones."

"What?! Why?" Confused, her brows knitted together as she watched him place her cellphone in the back seat. "Josh, give it back."

"Nope." Her brows scrunched as he began to drive. "Where we're going, your phone would be too distracting."

Although annoyed, her head tilted as a flicker of question gleamed in her eyes. "Oh, this better be good. Hannie was just messaging me too."

"You can talk to her later. You guys talk every day." Keeping his eyes on the road, the corner of his lips rose as he saw her curiosity was getting to her. She settled back in the seat and looked out the window, probably wondering where he was taking her.

"I talk to you every day." Marceline said with her hand pressed to her cheek as her elbow was resting on the small ledge of the car window. "How would you feel if I stop responding?"

His green eyes looked to the corners, looking at her quickly before back at the road. "You do that to me all the time."

"No I don't!" She argued, "Name one time?"

"Uhm, last night." Imagining how her face looked at the moment as he couldn't see it for himself since he entered the boulevard, he couldn't stop from smirking. "We talk until you sleep, and you always sleep first."

A series of grumbles escaped her lips, knowing that she was caught. Her arms folded across her chest as she sunk into her seat, "Well, I have evidence of when you slept on me."

"What?" Curious, he gave her his full attention once they reached a red light. "No you don't."

"Yes, yes I do." Smirking, she looked at him and leaned over. "I have pictures to prove it."

His eyes widened in shock, "P-Pictures?!"

"I couldn't stop myself." Placing her hands on her face, shaking her head as her eyes closed as she got lost into the memory. "Your sleeping face is soooo cute!"

"Mars!" Reaching into the backseat for her cellphone, he frankly tried to open it but the pin code wasn't anything that he could think. "Delete them!"

The red on his face was so clear despite what little light there was outside. Her eyes were soaking in every bit of his expression while grinning like an idiot. "And why would I do that? That's my ammo. Also, no texting and driving."

Snatching her phone from his hands, she pointed towards the road and unlocked her phone. She suspected that he wouldn't dare take her phone again and leave her to text in peace. "If you were scared I was going to ignore you to text, you know better than that."

Giving up, for now, he sighed. "You're a handful, you know that?" His eyes remained focused ahead on him, "I just wanted time with just us, no distractions."

"I aim to please." Her face lit up from her phone as she rummaged through her messages. "If it really upsets you then I'll turn it off once we get there. Is that better?" Marceline offered before changing the topic, "Oh, y'know, Chris keeps trying to make me download his new app."

"I'm satisfied with that but I'm going to hold you to it." It was almost like a warning, which meant he would get back at her if she went back on her word. "Why won't you? His apps are great." Of course, Joshua would be the one to defend his best friend.

She gave a shrug, "Well, for one, I don't play League."

"Heh, after you lost a few times you just gave up on it. You have to fail in order to achieve, Mars." His eyes met hers to catch the dull look on her face. He snickered as he could feel the heat emanating off her body, and not in a good way.

"Are you calling me a sore loser, Josh?" Marceline queried, her eyes staring at him as if she could create holes on his face.

"No, no." He shook his head, "Now why would I do that? Me? No, I would never. Never in my life."

"The sarcasm… It burns." She hissed, her hand then traveled towards the radio. "Can I, Ser Joshua?"

Wrinkling his brows, he glanced at her. "When have I ever stopped you before?"

Flicking through the stations, Marceline tried to find a song that she at least tolerated. Of course, nothing was to her liken until one song came across. Her eyes widened and then lit up, slowly looking to Josh, who already looked defeated and broken before she ever screamed out the lyrics. "All I am is a man! I want the world in my hands! I hate the beach but I stand in California with my toes in the sand~" Oddly enough, he could say he enjoyed her nearly damaging his ear drums. Her eyes closed, fists balled up, and the way she tried to find anything as an instrument. "Use the sleeves of my sweater, let's have an adventure~"

The song was catchy, he had to admit. Not his usual taste but something he'd give a listen to. His eyes would look at her out the corners as his fingers tapped the steering wheel in the rhythm of the song, watching her shoulders sync up to the flow before she practically killed him with the chorus. "'Cause it's too cooooooold, whoa! For you hereeee and nooooow!"

Unable to resist the catchyness of the music, he found himself doing that without being forced to, "So let me hooooooold, whoa! Both your hands in the holes of my sweater." Marceline's head whipped towards him, surprised to hear him belting it out with her. And that's when the whole ride transitioned into a duet karaoke.

When he finally pulled up to their destination after handing some man at a booth something that her eyes didn't catch. Instead Marceline's eyes looked around to see other parked cars but there was a giant screen in the front. Blinking several times, she turned to look at him. "Wait a second, is this a—"

"Drive-in? Yep." Josh went on to say, "I did try to invite everyone else but they were too busy." He was lying, and he hated that he did but he could already imagine the drama of having everyone stuck in one car or two, considering Mike and Emily probably wanted to make out in peace. And the two were hardly alone, and so he found this to be the perfect solution. "Plus I already had two tickets."

Her hand slid towards her chest, her heart racing as an over-pour of hotness rushed to her face. All of a sudden it felt as if it had become 100° in the car and she was having a hard time to stay cool and calm. "If y-you're not comfortable we can just go somewhere else…" Josh wondered if the silence meant she was angry. His green eyes stayed glued to her as she suddenly looked over at him with a straight face.

"No, it's fine." It felt like she had to use every muscle in her body to even say it. "W-What movie are we watchin'?" Forcing herself to not appear unnerved, she tried to place on her brave persona.

Relieved, Josh sighed. "Justin Bieber's: Believe." Shaking his head, he fought hard to not smile, or laugh for that matter, and keep a straight, believable face. "I wanted you to know the _real_ me. I am," he dramatically paused, "a _Belieber_." He said in a whisper.

With her mouth agape and her eyes wide in actual horror, she quickly slapped his shoulder. "Stop it, you're freaking me out! If you're serious I will get out this car _right_ now!" The look on her face had his body erupt and shake with laughter, leaning back on his seat as he wrapped his arms around his middle. "Josh! I'm _not_ kidding."

"You'd really think I would be a Belieber?" Wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eyes, she kept her eyes glued onto him. "Seriously, we're going to be watching 'Open Grave'. Its was released at the Tribeca Film Festival, so it wasn't in theaters." Josh tried to stop his laughing, his mouth still twitching as she was reeling back from his joke.

"Sounds interesting." Marceline had quickly replied to a few messages before turning the phone off and placing it in her pocket as she promised and removing this darn seatbelt. "But no snacks?"

"What do you mean no snacks?" Grabbing his bookbag from the backseat, filled all the way to the top with bags of chips, candies, and anything she could literally name that was junk. "I'm the man with the plan. I'm _always_ prepared."

A line of a smile stretched across her face. "Is that Starbursts I see?"

"Your eyes are not deceiving you." He replied, handing her the pack as he watched her fiddle to rip it open. As usual, he watched as she handed him all the yellow ones. "I'm always stuck with the yellow."

"Chris doesn't complain." Marceline huffed, "He accepts them kindly."

"That's because you always give him the clear and green Gummy bears too." Josh had reached down for a bag of Hot Cheetos, "And _I_ get stuck with the yellow ones."

"If you didn't like 'em then why didn't you say anything?" She asked, fiddling with taking off the wrapping paper of a red one. "I like the rest."

Joshua noticed for a while now that cherry seemed to be her favorite flavor. It was always her first resort. Cherry lollipops, red gummy bears, red starbursts. His eyes looked down to see her eagerly trying to get the red, squared candy into her mouth. "I don't mind but can I at _least_ get a variety?"

"You're so picky." She huffed, "But fine, I won't give Chris all the clear and green ones. I'll share with you next time."

"My, the lady is humble as she is graceful~" He chuckled as he was given a glare. "They sell sodas and foods over there." He pointed to the corner, secluded food area from the rest of the cars. "What do you want to drink?"

Her eyes stared at the red starburst in thought before glancing over at him. "Mmm," Marceline hummed before finally thinking of an answer, "sweet tea."

"I'll be back." He placed the bag down in his seat, undoing his seatbelt before getting out of the car.

"Wait, I have money!" Plopping the starburst in her mouth, she reached into her back pocket for her wallet.

"And so do I. Keep yours. I'll be back." It was too late. He was already gone.

Her head shook in disbelief. "This guy… Just because you're rich doesn't mean you can just spend your money all willy nilly on me."

Focusing her gaze on him, she watched as he stood in line before looking around at the random cars. Since it had become dark it was hard to see what was happening in other people's vehicles, which made her grateful. It was awkward to see other people kissing or even going beyond that. Why would they choose a drive-in to have sex? Marceline had no idea, but some people got the thrill of other people knowing. The car movements were obvious enough to let a person know.

Now that she thought about it, she became flustered all over again. She feared this a long time ago. Marceline wanted a drive-in with their friends because she felt if her and Josh were alone, something might happen. At first, she thought it was arrogant for her to just assume that without later on realizing that she had actually liked Joshua. More than as a friend. Maybe it would be her to initiate the kiss since she was entangled in her own feelings. The dark setting, a movie, and being alone with the person you like was more than enough to make you feel the courage to do it, but what if he rejected her? How awkward would the ride home be? Their friendship would never be the same.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the car door open, Josh handing her cup of sweet tea while climbing back inside and closing the door. Her eyes couldn't help but wander to his form as she chewed her Starburst, observing as he placed his drink in the cup holder, put the bookbag on the floor of the backseat as he kept his bag of chips close. Josh had this habit of not eating until the movie started where she was too impatient to. He liked to eat while being immersed into the film, which she always found was oddly cute.

Sometimes she would miss parts of the movie ( especially important parts to the plot ) because she had noticed this habit. Beth and Hannah were the same as her, wanting to eat and not worry if the movie started or not. Her eyes tore themselves away from him, not wanting to be entranced by him any longer.

Trailers began to start to show movies already on dvd and upcoming movies. Marceline's lips were wrapped around the straw, taking a sip as her eyes watched the trailers with mild interest. Some of the movies looked good, and she nearly squealed at the trailer of Divergent. Beth, Hannah Sam, Ashley, and herself had all promised to watch the movie since they read the books. Jessica only wanted to see it because of Theo James and Emily declared herself more of a "Hunger Games" person even though they tried to explain it was just as good and not entirely the same.

"You and my sisters are gonna go see that, right?" Josh's voice made her instantly forget the memory of Emily's dismissal of the movie, her eyes glancing over at him.

"Divergent? Yeah. That doesn't come out until March though." Marceline answered before placing her cup in the second cup holder. "It's a shame you won't be coming with us."

"I'm not into it." Josh said, shaking his head as he ate another Hot Cheeto. "It's not my style."

"But you went with me to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2.." The wave of regret came across his face, which made her lips quiver as she tried to suppress her laugh.

"Don't you mean you _dragged_ me to see it? Beth and I didn't want to go. Ash dragged Chris and Emily dragged Mike. The only guy who escaped was Matt, and that's because he had football practice." Josh wanted to get that movie out of his head, shivering as he had flashbacks of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.

Marceline's eyes crinkled, "But you had fun. You laughed, a lot."

"That's because Beth and Chris wouldn't stop crackin' jokes." It was true. Beth and Chris made every joke that there could be made about it, and Marceline had a hard time even trying to pay attention to the movie and was shushed with the rest of them for laughing. Twilight wasn't her favorite series, not by a long shot, but she knew how much Hannah wanted to see it and Ashley just wanted to "get this series over with" as she claimed since she saw the first movie and read the books. She was that type that once she started something, she had to finish it. That was what Marceline admired about her.

The conversation abruptly ended since the movie began to start. She could hear Josh finally opening the bag, now eating as soon as the movie studio names and some of the name credits were gone. Marceline had no idea what this movie was about and so she was blindsided, but it made her somewhat excited at the same time. It had to be horror, she knew that was Josh's favorite genre. Just the title alone told you was a horror movie anyway. Leaning back against the seat, she plopped an orange strawberry after unwrapping it in her mouth while watching the movie.

. . .

"Okay, I'm totally lost." Marceline finally said, shaking her head. "Who is good? Who is bad? What the fresh hell is going on?"

Already half way into the movie, she was already lost. It was one of those movies that you had to keep guessing and it was leaving her brain scrambled.

Josh glanced at her, amused at at the confusion written all over her face. "You don't know the protagonist and antagonist right away." He said before looking back at the movie, "You have to guess it for yourself."

Guessing was going to give her a headache at this rate. She rubbed her temples while trying to put the pieces together, "I'm about to give up."

"You can do it, Mars." He taunted, "I believe in you."

"Ha _ha_." She dry laughed before looking back at him to see him already staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing." He merely said, which left her unsure and curious.

"It's not _nothing_." She decided to pursue it, "What is it?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

"Josh." Her brows sunk down, wondering what was really bothering him. For him to lose focus of the movie and just stare at her, there had to be something wrong. "I hate when you do that. Why don't you ever tell me—"

In that moment, something overcame him. All his pent up emotions that he tried to force in the back of his mind became energy and surged through him, like lightning in his veins. His thoughts were a mess, dancing along with impulse and desire and that's when he became desperate. Desperate enough to press his lips fiercely against her own in the middle of her sentence.

Her body felt like shutting down, she had already stopped breathing. Her heart felt like it was about to break out of her chest cavity since it was hammering so hard, to the point that it hurt. A cold sweat slid down her brow, down to her neck and beneath her clothes. Her ears felt like they were on fire and her heart was loud enough that she could hear the quick rhythm in her ears, and she was almost afraid that he could hear it himself.

Her eyes were wide open, but she couldn't recall seeing anything since a honeyed glaze of shock clouded over her eyes and butterflies seemed to make her stomach feel weightless. All she could focus on other than all of that was how the kiss felt and how his nose rubbed against her own, even how his lips were surprisingly soft as it tightly locked her lips.

Her eyes finally slit closed, and she managed to relax her lips but he had already pulled away, scrambling back until he somewhat hit the closed, car door.

"Shit!" He was panicked, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. "Shit, shit, shit!" He chanted, wondering why he had lost all control over himself.

Marceline's eyes opened slowly, hazily as she could still feel her lips tingle. A part of her wanted to laugh at how much he was panicking, probably thinking she was going to hate him for kissing her. It sure did solve the reason why he always stared and she was grateful to finally know where his feelings were.

"Well," she managed to speak, " _that_ happened."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay, Josh. _Really_. I—"

"No, its not. I forced myself on you and I wasn't thinking." He slapped his palm against the edge of the steering wheel, "Shit…"

Her eyes watched him rest on the steering wheel, trying to gather himself together. It seemed like no matter she said, he would just quickly retreat and utter an apology. She couldn't even say she enjoyed the kiss, that she liked him, and that she wanted to kiss him again. He wouldn't let her say a thing, and he kept moving so much that she couldn't even show it. Marceline leaned back into the seat in defeat. This was not how it was supposed to happen...

Due to the awkwardness and how distracted they became from the movie, Josh settled for driving her back home and they sat in silence during the entire ride.

 **Three Weeks Later. . .**

They pretended that nothing ever happened.

All that remained of them, this giant misunderstanding that ruined the relationship between them, were them speaking to each other as if the kiss never happened. She spoke to him as if she couldn't recall any memory of the night of the drive-in, and he teased and played as if he didn't as well. Despite the fact they tried to smooth over what Marceline would never consider a blemish, their relationship was completely strained. They were unable to be close as they were before, not able to touch each other casually as they used to. They became tense and flustered whenever they grabbed the same thing and then kept their distance on group outings with Marceline practically smothering Hannah. Chris, Sam, and the twins had noticed the odd behavior but didn't say a thing, but twins as well as Sam were the only ones itching to confront her about it.

Hannah and Beth took it upon themselves to invite Marceline to the Lodge for a winter trip with the group, to have fun before they college began since Josh was already ahead of them. Marceline, Hanna, Beth, and Sam wouldn't start until October, attending Los Angeles film school, which Joshua also attended. Marceline decided to take up on acting, feeling as if it was something she could could and felt passionate about. Her and Josh used to joke that they would be the next Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter or the next Len Wisemen and Kate Beckinsale since the former were splitting up as saddening as it was. Even though the fact that these were couples, they didn't mind joking around about it before but now it felt too awkward to even discuss things like that with one another.

Marceline sighed as they were walking up the mountain to the lodge, her arms wrapped around her as she buried half of her face in the red scarf that Josh wrapped around her when she complained how could she was. He didn't speak to her after the moment of kindness, leaving her upset and confused. She was a little grateful that his scent was still on the scarf and found herself remembering how she and Chris said he was a weirdo for sniffing people. And yet, here she was just mindlessly sniffing for his scent on the scarf. Hannah was on her right and Beth to her left, Joshua was walking ahead of them with Chris and they were locked in conversation that they couldn't be distracted by anything else.

Her eyes were glued to the back of Joshua's head, wanting to grab his arm and finally talk some sense into him but the courage would die down as quickly as it came. "Alright, now tell me what's going on with you and my brother?" Beth finally asked, not wanting to wait and be lost in the middle of the odd looks the two would give one another. She had also made sure that they weren't in earshot between them and Josh. Marceline tore her eyes away before she felt even more upset.

Her brown eyes looked to Beth's, who was staring now into hers and waiting for an answer. "He kissed me."

Beth's eyes nearly bulged out of the sockets, surprised by the fact. "And?"

"And that was it." She shrugged, "And we're like this, not speaking, and drowning the group in negative energy."

Hannah's eyes saddened, able to tell how much their friend was obviously hurt. Marceline liked to put on a brave face but the expression she was constantly making at Josh was enough to help them know how hurt she was about their damaged relationship. "Did you try to tell him how you feel?"

"He wouldn't even let me say." Marceline shook her head, "And now it's just… weird between us. We don't skype anymore or text each other like we used to."

Beth draped an arm around her shoulders while Hannah wrapped an arm around her waist, both of them pressing their heads against hers. "Don't worry, we're gonna fix this. All we have to do is get you two alone and then you'll have no choice but to talk about it." The short-haired Washington reasoned.

"I always thought you and Josh would be good together." Hannah said, trying to lighten up Marceline's mood. "I can tell how much you really liked each other."

Their words did make her feel better. She was hoping that Beth's idea would work but she was also afraid that it would be useless. "You guys, you don't have to try to tell me all of this."

"We're your best friends, Marce." Beth insisted, "This is what we're _supposed_ to do." She reasoned, "And I want to see both you and my brother happy, no matter how gross it'll be."

Chuckling, she shook her head. "Wow, thanks." Marceline replied sarcastically.

"I always wondered why Josh looked sad." Hannah sighed, "I didn't know it was over this."

Feeling guilty, she glanced over at Hannah. "I didn't mean to worry you, Hannie. I never wanted Josh to be sad."

"D-Don't be sorry!" She urged her, "It's not your fault. I'm just a little jealous how you guys have gone that far. Mike and I…"

Beth and Marceline immediately frowned at that. Hannah, after these two years, and the off-and-on relationship between Mike and Emily, none of it didn't get through her head. Beth had hoped that Hannah would get over her crush and eventually move on, but her twin showed no signs of improving. In fact, she was only getting worse. Marceline thought the same and was always afraid to approach the conversation about it since last time things got pretty bad really quickly. With Hannah crying and running off, making her feel terrible for even bringing the idea up.

So this time, they decided not to say anything and that it was best to just ignore it. Marceline didn't know how deep Hannah's feelings about Michael were entirely, but she still had hoped that time would allow her to move on. She would let him go, or so she hoped.

Josh had opened the door to the lodge and they all followed inside. Beth, Hannah, and Marceline had unzipped their coats despite how cold it still felt inside. There was a lingering warmth since their parents, Bob and Melinda, were here last weekend but the overall cold of the mountain had tried to wipe away any traces left inside. Beth and Hannah made their way downstairs in the basement to get the boiler working while Chris and Josh were going to handle electricity.

Marceline stayed behind and sat on the couch of the Great Room, stretching her arms over her shoulder before resting her head on the arm of the couch. She wore a cream-colored sweater dress with short-sleeves, a tan belt around her waist to accentuate her small waist, a pair of black tights and brown boots. Her mother's bangle was around her wrist, which proved to distract her since she was in the dark by herself and has nothing else to do. It was first time, but she couldn't explore in the dark since it made it feel pretty spooky. She hadn't gone the past two years whenever Josh and the twins arranged a weekend here with the group since it was around the same time her dad had time for her to visit. Marceline had went to South Korea for a week the past two years to spend time with him. She never realized until then just how much he missed him when she had saw him.

A ghost of a smile came across her lips as she also remembered making Tteokbokki ( Spicy rice cakes ) that she had learned over her trip. They all couldn't believe how spicy it was, and how most of them had cried for water after one bite. It was also a good time for her and Michael to bond, seeing as how they high-five'd for having a good tolerance and love for spicy foods. Who knew food would be what brought them together.

"What are you doing up in here in the dark?"

It almost scared her how he suddenly appeared, right at the door with a heavy winter coat and a large dufflebag filled with his things. What a coincidence too since she was just thinking about him. "Oh, Josh and Chris went to turn on the electricity—" As soon as she mentioned it, the lights flickered on on. Both of them looked up and then at each other, "See? Annnnnnnd Beth and Hannah are getting the boiler running."

"Alright then!" Mike then took a seat on the couch, sighing as he felt relaxed. She had sat up, not wanting to awkwardly lay there. "That means no work from me."

Marceline chuckled at that, crossing her legs as her hands rested on the edge of the cushion of the sofa. "Let me guess, you and Em got into an argument?"

"Its that obvious?" He asked, genuinely surprised that she had figured that out.

"Uh, yeah." She nodded, "You two should be coming here _together_ like a _couple_." Marceline stated the obvious. What boyfriend and girlfriend arrives separately on a trip? They were either pissed at one another or broken up, especially since Emily would've loved for Michael to carry her things.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a sigh escaping him soon after. "She's so controlling. I can't deal with it half of the time." He tilted his head some, "What's a guy to do?"

Marceline could see how Emily's possessive and snarky attitude could leave someone screaming for dear life, but she knew that Michael was willing to tolerate it. He loved her. If he didn't, they wouldn't have gotten back together after they had broken up so many times. "When there's love, there's a way."

"Gettin' Edgar Allen Poe on me?" Michael teased, "You know, I'm glad we're on speaking terms and not you running from me like I'm the Devil or somethin'."

Raising a brow, she tilted her head forward slightly. "I'm pretty sure Mr. Poe never said that, but okay." A smile had then graced her lips, "Who knew that all it would take is our love for spicy food to bring us together." Lightly, she punched his shoulder. "I had nothing personally against you. You just reminded me of my lame ex is all."

Sitting up, he appeared intrigued by this. "So, he was handsome as me, huh?"

"Oh, _definitely_." With a roll of her eyes, she gave him a teasing smile.

"So you admit that I'm handsome, huh?" Placing his hand on his chest, he tried for the most feminine voice he could muster. "Ooooh Marceline~ You make my heart go a-flutter!"

Laughing, she aimed to kick his leg. "Don't tell Em I said that or she'll rip out my vocal chords." Her hand went up to her neck, smoothly gliding her palm against her skin. "You _know_ how territorial she is."

Lightly nudging his knuckle against her chin, he scooted closer to her. His face wasn't too far away from hers and she was sure that he wouldn't keep testing dangerous waters, and so she stayed as she was without any movements. "Just say I'm yours and she has no territory to claim." Although she knew he was teasing, or at least she hope, she gave him a dull stare.

"Paws off, Mike!" Beth's voice captured their attention, both of them looking over the couch at her as Hannah looked at the two of them in confusion. "You're such a horndog. Anything with two legs, you just want to get between."

"That's not true!" Michael said defensively, "If I wanted, I could've been in between yours~"

"Ugh!" With a scoff, she rolled her eyes. "Not even in your dreams, Munroe!" Throwing a pillow at him, he hunched over with his hands raised up.

"I was just jokin', Beth!" He said as she grabbed another pillow, smacking him with him and he winced whenever he was viciously hit. Marceline had slyly stood up and made her way towards Hannah, snaking her arms around the girl in order to calm any suspicions. "Ow! Calm down!"

Beth relented after a few more hits before tossing the pillow away, satisfied as he was still crouched to block what he suspected might be another hit incoming. Josh and Chris had walked into the aftermath, confused but mildly entertained. "Did I just miss a beatdown?" said Chris before looking at Josh, "I think we missed a beatdown."

"You sure did." Marceline said, her eyes on Chris. "Beth was letting Mike have it."

Letting Hannah go, she watched as she walked over towards Mike. "Are you alright, Mike? Beth didn't hit you too hard, did she?" Her hands hovered over his face, wanting to inspect if Beth did some actual damage. It burned Marceline's down to her very soul to see Hannah hover over him, genuinely worried about him and Michael being receptive of her gentleness. He had to know. He had to have known of Hannah's feelings for him. So why? Why was he allowing her to act like this towards him. Why was he allowing her to act like this?

"I'm fine, Hannah." Michael gave her a small smile, "Don't worry about it."

The lodge's front door had opened, everyone turning to see Samantha, Matthew and Ashley were the next to walk in, giving everyone a wave. "Didn't think the bus would take as long as it did. Good thing Matt picked us up." Sam explained the reason why they were somewhat late despite the fact that they were pretty much on time.

"Yes, Matt is our hero." Ashley said, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder as he gave a smile and performed a playful bow.

Marceline caught the way Chris' eyes lit up as he saw Ashley. "Way to go, Mattie-Matt." Chris praise, too far away to give the jock a well-deserved high five but settled for a compliment instead.

Josh had then raised a case of beer. "If anyone wants to get warm any faster, I got some drinks that'll help."

"Woo!" Michael raised a fist, "Pass me a bottle there, Chris." The blond-haired teen took a green bottle from out the case and threw it it towards Michael, who caught it swiftly with one hand. "Nice!"

"That was a good catch, Mike." Matt complimented him, "You should've tried out for the team."

"And get tackled and ruin this face?" Michael said, his hand motioning towards his "dashing" facial features, "I leave all of that to you, Matt."

Beth had placed some logs in the fireplace and lit a fire, Marceline had walked over and hovered her hands over it. "This feels _so good_."

"Tell me about it." Beth said as Sam and Ashley huddled over with their hands over the fire. Seeing as the boys were distracted, and the group was nearly all here. She decided on something, "Sam, Ash, you gotta help me out on something."

MArceline's eyes widened before darting at Beth, she knew her all too well. "What is it?" Ashley asked.

"Marce and my brother totally kissed, but my brother thought it was a misunderstanding and—"

"Oh my God! Wha—" Sam immediately covered Ashley's mouth, the four boys looked over skeptically as Hannah quickly joined with the quad of girls.

"Could you _be_ any louder, Ash?" Sam warned as the boys suddenly looked away. They could hear them dismissing it as "gossip" and shaking their heads, joining an understanding how girls were weird.

"Sorry sorry!" The redhead quickly apologized, "Go on."

Beth cleared her throat and then continued on, "Anyway, we have to get them alone. Somehow, someway."

"Guys, really, you don't have to do all of this." Marceline whispered, "Things will work themselves out… hopefully."

The short-haired twin glared at her, "And I'm Santa Claus. Ho. Ho. _Ho._ " She replied sarcastically, making Ashley and Hannah giggle.

Marceline returned the stare but then cracked a smile, unable to hold it. "How about making him jealous? He'll definitely want to make things right then." Ashley suggested.

"With who?" Sam asked, "Matt is no threat. Pfft, Josh wouldn't even take the thought of Chris and Marceline seriously."

All of them slowly looked up at Michael, who was talking to the boys about something they could barely hear. "Oh, oh no! Nope! No way! No! That's a _bad_ idea." Marceline shook her head, "You want Emily to rip out my hair! I love my hair!" She whispered rather fiercely.

"It won't be anything serious." Beth tried to smooth things over, "Boys get to the point faster when their jealous."

Sam seemed on the fence, "I don't know about this either guys. It might cause a fight."

Hannah then shook her head, "I agree with Sam and Marcy, I don't think this is a good idea."

"See?" Marceline knew that Hannah just didn't like the idea that Michael was being used, but she was glad the girl's jealousy was working in her favor.

"Han, it's not that serious." Beth warned, "We all know that Marce doesn't like him."

"I know but…" Her voice trailed until she became silent, her eyes downcast.

Seeing that made Marceline's heart sting. "She's right. Let's not." She glanced over at Josh, "I'll just have to grow a pair of balls for once."

"If you don't grow a pair of balls by ten then a plan _will_ commence." Beth settled for that, which earned her a tight hug from Marceline.

She pressed her cheek against Beth's, nearly smothering her. "This is why you're my best friend, Bethy-boo!"

"Ugh, stop it!" She couldn't help but laugh despite how irritating it was. Marceline continued on the nuzzle fest for a few minutes before finally letting her go.

Soon enough, the last two of the group had arrived. Emily and Jessica walked in and sighed once they felt the warmth of the fire and the door was closed behind them, "Finally." Emily huffed, sounding as if she had walked an entire marathon.

"The snow is getting crazy." Jessica shook her head, "And it took me _forever_ to lock that gate."

"How?" Josh questioned, "Its easy."

Emily then gave Josh a look that read: 'You know why' and he nodded, understanding exactly what she meant by that. "Alright, Porn stars, how about a game?"

"What kind of game?" Sam bothered to ask even though she already knew the answer, "A drinking game, perhaps?"

"Of course!" He said with a smile. "A little loose lips is what makes everything fun."

Jessica raised her hand, "Oh! How about truth or dare? And whoever says no to a dare _has_ to take a shot."

Joshua snapped his fingers, "I like that. C'mon everyone, gather 'round the campfire."

They all made their way towards the Great Room but Marceline was nervous by the smirk on Beth's face. Beth was going to use this game to patch things up even after she warned her to do it by ten. Little did Marceline realize that it was actually ten already and Beth used that as an excuse to create a master plan.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Wow, I was seriously laughing when I was trying to pick out a horror movie that came out around the end of 2013 to January of 2014 during Josh and Marceline drive-in catastrophe because the movie I was going to pick was Dark Summer because I liked the summary of it but it turns out it did badly ( which could've resulted in them making fun of it, of course ) but guess who was in it? Dr. Hill. Peter Stormare. I was like, "Wow, I could reference this in later chapters..." but then I changed it to a movie I actually saw so the critique would make sense but then I ended up not even doing that. Lol.

This chapter was supposed to be longer but my laptop is like "Oh boy, I wanna 'cause you so much problems right now." So, I'll have to split this into two parts.


	5. Chapter Five: A Night to Remember Pt2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** Its part two! The views, follows, and faves this getting is crazy! Makes me _so_ loved.

 **XxAnimeCutiexX** : Thank you! They will, that's a promise! I can definitely say that without giving too much a way. I'm glad someone understood that reference because I didn't know he was in the movie until I really thought about it since its been so long. I only saw the movie once but when I saw Rami's face I was like, "WAIT A MINUTE, BUDDY! I'VE SEEN YOU IN TWILIGHT."

 **Chloe:** Also true, but wow... The drama would've been explosive! That definitely would've ruined any friendship being made with Emily and Jessica though. And Josh would've been super insecure.

 **The World in Black and White** : I think Josh really is. His character trait is loving, and the way Sam was when she thought they were close only further proves I think he is. I hope I give you something to love about this chapter. Omg, no its not. Hannah and Beth did **not** deserve what happened to them and it makes just want to make them go back home happy and go to college, but then there would no point in Josh wanting revenge. ; u ; I like that AU. Someone should make that. Omg I don't think Han is a good match for Mike. All the signs lead up to that but I guess since Mike would lose his jerkiness as you can tell how much he really cares about Jessica ( even though I don't think they're good match either and he even says he doesn't know what they have together ), he would've been good to her if she probably lost her docileness. I dunno. But yes, that would be amazing. I want to go with the everyone lives route except Josh gets a happy ending. You never know what I might do though. / shifty eyes )

* * *

The room was filled with laughter, and it made Marceline forget the foreign and weird tension between herself and Josh. Just seeing Hannah laugh, happy and carefree was enough to ease her out of her worries. Hannah was so focused on Michael before but now she was finally letting him slip from her thoughts for a while, which made Marceline feel like she was able to breathe. There would be no need to worry for Hannah and Emily to be at odds, at least that's what she hoped for the rest of their time here. "Alright, who is next?" Jessica hummed as she had helped filled hers, Emily's, and Michael's shot glasses.

Her eyes looked over the group, who was looking around to see who would be picked next. Marceline rubbed her hands together before resting them in-between her thighs for warmth. Her hands were always the first thing to get cold, but what bothered her was that her legs began to shake nervously. Joshua had glanced over, noticing the action and once they had managed to catch each other eyes, they quickly tore them away and distracted themselves. Chris cleared his throat, deciding to take this one. "I got it." With a mischievous grin, he looked over at the group. "Ash, true or dare?"

"Uhh…" Her head tilted back in thought, "Truth."

Everyone sucked their teeth, Ashley stuck her tongue out instead as she knew they hoped she would take a dare. Ashley wasn't all that adventurous. "Okay," Chris was a little disgruntled that she chose that but he settled. "what's the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?"

"Oooh~" Emily quipped, "Can't wait to hear this one."

All eyes were on Ashley, her large, hazel eyes were even wider and staring. "Okay, the most embarrassing thing I had ever done was…" Her hands curled up at her knees, her eyes squeezed shut. "Was pee in the pool in front of my crush at his 13th birthday party." The whole room was filled with laughs, the sounds bouncing off the walls and becoming like a surround sound stereo to her ears. "He had the liquid in the pool that turns pee blue and so he knew I did it. I wanted to die!"

Chris fell back on the floor, hands covering his eyes as he was nearly reduced to tears from how hard he had laughed. "Oh man, Ash!"

"It's not that funny!" Her hand covered her face, "You guys!"

The laughs wouldn't stop. "Wow, Ash. Remind me to next time to _not_ invite you to my pool." Sam said in jest, which earned her a cute pout.

"Alright, alright!" Jessica tried to calm everyone down. "Okay, Ash, you go."

Ashley shook her head before looking around, "Uh… Okay," Her eyes then landed on Emily, "Em!" Emily's head lifted off Michael's shoulder to give her, her full attention. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Emily sighed, "I took three shots for the dares, and I've had enough of that." She reasoned.

Jessica raised her brows, "Weak, much?"

"Says the one who only took two shots." Her friend countered.

"Uhh…" Ahley's lips pursed, trying to conjure up a good question. "What's the worst gift you ever received?"

"Pre-K, much, Ash?" She only joked, "Mike bought me a dog collar on our first year anniversary. He thought I had a dog for some reason."

Michael rolled his eyes, "Doesn't she look like a dog person?"

Everyone gave Michael a skeptical stare. Joshua shook his head, "Does Em even like pets?"

"No." Emily slyly said, "Josh should be my boyfriend. At least he gets me."

Michael then leaned down in her ear, whispering something that everyone couldn't hear save for Jessica since she sat close to them. "Ew, gross! Get a room, you bunnies." She shivered, "Em, its your turn again."

"Alright then." It appeared she already knew who she was going to ask. "Marce," Marceline's head lifted up, her eyes staring straight at Emily's. "Truth or dare?"

Last time Marceline had taken a dare. It wasn't bad, she had to give Matt a kiss and she chose his cheek but it did earn her a rather odd, burning stare from Josh. It made her feel guilty for doing it, but it was just a harmless joke. "Truth."

"All these truths!" The Class President sighed, "C'mon."

"Shutup, Mike!" Marceline bit, not harshly but just a quick jab.

"If you could have a threesome, who would the two other people be?" She did not expect that, and she could feel everyone's eyes on her with intrigue. Swallowing hard, she tried her best not to look at Josh. With a forced grin, her eyes looked over at the twins. "Hannah annnnnd Matt, no doubt."

"Awww." Michael pretended to be hurt. "I was hoping it would be me."

His girlfriend's elbow slammed right into his ribcage, making him cough and wince. "What was that, Michael?"

"N-Nothin', babe. Nothin'." He managed to choke out, "I was just joking."

"Uh-huh." Emily wasn't having any of that.

Marceline shook her head, "Well, alright. Mmmm," Looking over at the group, her eyes rested on Josh, who kept his eyes down. "Josh, truth or dare?"

Pulling himself out of whatever haze he was in, his green eyes looked at her with surprise. "Dare, of course."

"I dare you to…" With a grin, her eyes then glanced over at Chris. "To give Chris a lapdance."

"Oh my God!" Emily screamed, the girls began tapping their hands against their legs in anticipation.

"Whoa!" Matt shook his head, "Josh, you _don't_ have to do it!"

Chris immediately got his feet, "No way! Mar, that is totally cruel! Do you wish blindness upon me?!"

Her eyes looked up rather innocently at him, "Josh has a nice body. C'mon," In pseudo seduction, she shimmied her shoulders, "Chris, live a little~"

Joshua had glanced at his best friend with a teasing grin, "Yeah, Cochise, don't you wanna see my _sexy_ moves?"

"C-Cut it out, Josh!" stammered Chris, everyone went into a fit of laughter as Joshua took the shot instead.

"Okay," After downing his drink, he cleared his throat, "Jess, truth or dare?"

"Dare, duh." She appeared pretty confident and hype. Marceline glanced over at her with interest.

Josh hummed as he thought before snapping his fingers, "Oh, okay." With a grin he said, "I dare you to give anyone in the group your phone and let them text something to anyone in your contacts."

Everyone ooh'd at that, Jessica looked pretty shocked as well. With her brows furrowed and a confident smirk on her lips, she pulled out her phone from her back pocket. "Alright," She then unlocked her phone and handed it to Chris, "give it your best shot, Chrissy."

Fumbling with the phone for a second, he tried to think of the most horrendous then he could text someone. "Heh, you know I'm the master, right? You should've chose wisely, Lady Jessica."

"Bring it on!" She hyped, unafraid of whatever he might say.

Seeing as one boy had hearts next to his name, Chris decided to use them as his target. His fingers began tapping away in a text message, everyone anxiously wanting to know what he was saying. Finally, he pressed send before handing the phone back to Jessica. "As you commanded."

Her hands ripped the phone away from his grasp, anxiously wanting to know what he sent. Her eyes then widened in horror before looking at Chris as if she was going to set him on fire. "What the fuck?!"

Chris immediately got up, running off with Jessica chasing him behind. "Whoa, what did he say?" Beth asked.

"No idea but I seriously wanna know." Sam sighed, disappointed she didn't get to see the text. Jessica had came back with Chris in a headlock.

"I can't believe you, Christopher!" With a huff and stomp of her foot right on top of Chris', she let him go and flopped back down at her seat. "Okay, Beth, true or dare?"

Beth scrunched up her nose in thought. "I'll take… dare!"

"I dare you to text Caleb Mitchell that he is a Sex God" In that moment, Beth's face had gone white. Marceline cackled, feeling as if Beth deserved it for the Santa Claus joke.

"C'mon, Beth. Send him that text!" Marceline egged it on, nudging the girl's shoulder.

Glaring at Marceline for joining, she then smirked. "Tch, that's nothing!" Pulling out her cellphone, she unlocked it and scrolled through her contacts. "Alright, Caleb…" She said as she found his name and number, pressing it with a quick tap of her thumb before she began to send the text, "You. Are. A. Sex. God. And sent!"

"That's my Lil' Sis." Joshua bragged, "Always a trooper."

Beth stuck out her chest proudly, "Alright, my turn." Her eyes eyes scanned the group before looking at Marceline, "Marce, truth or dare."

"Uh, dare." She tried to be bold since she had picked truth last time.

"I dare you to makeout with Josh." Beth was straight to the point.

"Oooooooooh~" Chris, Ashley, and Sam sung together.

Joshua and Marceline had looked as if you just told them something died. Their eyes met one another's, "Just take the shot, Mars." Joshua insisted, "My sister's just being dumb."

Marceline had looked at the shot glass then at Joshua. ' _I can't believe she did that!'_ She thought, _'It's not even past_ — _'_ Her eyes then looked at the clock, _'Holy hell, she set me up!'_ – Her eyes looked down at her shot glass, wondering if it was a bad idea. Josh certainly thought it was but who could blame him after she let him believe she didn't like him. Everyone was waiting for to act on it or take a shot, and Marceline didn't know what to do.

Her bottom lip quivered, wanting to pout and cry angry tears. Why was she so indecisive right now? How could not fix this mess her and Josh were in and then at the same time, want to run away and act like the problem didn't so blatantly exist? She couldn't wait forever. The longer she took, the longer Josh looked uneasy. She didn't want him to feel rejected by her taking a shot and she also didn't want him to feel that she only kissed him for the dare. Which was worse?

"Fine!" The words just flew out of her mouth after she felt like time had stilled as she was thinking of her decision. Beth smirked as Hannah smiled, Sam looked relieved as did Chris. Mike, Emily, Jessica, and Math-as well as Josh for that matter-all looked surprised.

"Woo!" Jessica swung her fist in the air, "You go girl!"

Forcing herself on her feet even though her legs felt like giving out right that instant, she tried to do the most confident march she could ever do towards him. Her hand wrapped itself around her wrist and she tugged on his arm until he stood. Josh's were wide as ever as Marceline quickly whipped her head towards Beth, "I'm just not kissing him in front of you!"

"Good. I don't want to see that." Beth's smirk had shifted into a rather victorious grin as she watched her friend huff and force her brother upstairs into one of the room. "And my work here is done." She mumbled to herself, her eyes looking away from the door once it closed.

Chris then leaned forward towards the group, "Finally!" He sighed, "I thought it would take five thousand years for them to make up."

"Make up?" Matt questioned, "Marceline and Josh were fighting or something?"

Sam was unaware of what happened between them but saw the difference in their relationship since it was obvious. Her knees were pulled to her chest as she waited for Chris to spill the beans on what happened. "Joshua had totally did a surprise date with Mar, and she had no idea. He took her to drive-in and was going to tell her how he felt."

"And then what happened?" Emily asked, genuinely curious.

"Josh kissed her and Mar was like "ay dios mío!" and then Josh was like "oh shit" and then since then they had this whole ignore what happened scenario. It was a total rom-com misunderstanding going on, but Josh was so out of the loop that she actually liked him too." He nodded, "They'll make up."

The group looked at him, oddly. "Wow, that was… the most weirdest summary I have ever heard, Chris." Ashley shook her head, "And why would Marcline say that? Isn't she French? Wouldn't she say "Oh la vache!"?" Seeing everyone turning their gaze to her, she combed her fingers through her hair rather nervously. "I heard her say that before…"

"No matter what she said," Beth spoke up, "I'm glad her and Josh can finally hash this out."

Marceline had no idea which room belonged to him, but it hadn't mattered. She led them to whatever room and quickly shut the door once they were inside. Her hand had already let go of his wrist as he awkwardly stood in the middle of the room, facing her as she turned to look at him. "You don't have to, Mars. Beth was just teasing us. We'll just say we kissed." This was probably the first time she didn't want Josh to be so considerate.

"Josh…" Marceline sighed.

"Just mess up your hair, smear lipstick on me." He pursued the idea of faking it.

"Josh." She said, much firmer this time.

He continued on anyway, "I already ruined things at the drive-in. I know it's awkward and I know I should never have forced myself on you, I'm really sorry and—" Just like he interrupted her before, she took the initiative this time and leaned gently into his lips. They only pressed together for a few seconds, this time her eyes were closed and his were wide open in shock. Her heart felt like it was sinking into her stomach, but in a good way. She didn't feel as nervous as she did the first time.

When she pulled away, he looked at her as if he had seen a ghost. His eyes slowly blinked a few times, his eyelashes feeling like they were heavy as lead. He couldn't really believe any of it, "Mars, this isn't… This isn't funny."

"I'm not joking." She finally said, "I _want_ to kiss you."

In a heartbeat, Joshua lunged forward for another kiss, his mouth open this time, but from how quickly he had done it, he toppled over her, making her land right onto the bed. "Didn't mean to do that." He pulled away just to say. He raised himself up to remove some of his weight off her, "I guess I got carried away."

His thumb outline the shape of her lips; the pad of the tip gliding over of them, not hardly surprised at the softness—they were glistening from his saliva that remained from when he last kissed her a few seconds ago. "What's wrong?" Marceline finally asked, unable to read his eyes as they stared down at her.

A lopsided grin stretched across his face, "I was thinking if I was dreaming this." He whispered, his voice soft and hushed; a tone she never heard from him before but made her shiver. "I thought you hated me when I kissed you at the drive-in."

"You wouldn't even let me speak." Her eyes narrowed, "You just _assumed_ that."

"Well, I'm an idiot." Out of shame, he forced his eyes away. "I guess I was too worried of what I thought you might say. I didn't know—"

"Now you do." Her back arched, lifting her head from all the bed to capture his lips softly before reclining back down, taking him with her as with a gentle pull on the collar of his shirt. Soon enough, she had let go of it and allowed her hands to shakily trail up stomach and to his chest before wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pulling his body over hers in what she felt was a much needed closeness..

His body rubbed against hers, his stomach felt like it was twisting in a tight knot, just as tight as their tongues tied together. Joshua snugged his hips in-between her thighs as he she held onto him tight, grasping the fabric of shirt as she feared that he was going to let go and run away like he did before. Without thought, she moaned into his mouth, which made her rather sloppily pry their lips apart.

Her eyes looked away, embarrassed by the act. "I thought we were just making out, Mars? Did you want to perform an alien mating ritual too~?"

"Shut up!" Her eyes squeezed shut as she could feel his body quake with laughter. She then decided to hide her face in his shoulder, so he couldn't see how red her face became. "We should go back downstairs."

She heard his groan as his arms snaked around her body, fully encasing her in his warmth. "You kiss me like _that_ and you think I want to go back downstairs with the peanut gallery? You're a tease."

"Our dare was to makeout, _not_ have sex." Marceline lectured, "And you haven't taken me out on a proper date yet. Until you do, I'll think about it."

He a sigh escaped him as she snaked her arms from off him and he helped her up by giving her his hand for her to take. She lifted herself to her feet, but was greeted with another hug and his face pressed against her neck. "Do we have to?"

Marceline tried to fight her smile but to no avail, "We have to."

"To be fair," He kept his face nuzzled against her neck, which made her want to laugh from how ticklish the spot was with his voice vibrating against it. It did arouse her but she was already reeling from the high of the kisses they had just shared, "that was a pretty short makeout session."

With her arms slithered around his shoulder, her cheek pressed against his head in thought. "That's because I know that you wouldn't leave it at just that, Josh."

Her eyes softened as she could feel his lips pulling into a smile against her neck before he finally managed to pull himself away, but not far away enough to let her arms unwind themselves off him. His hands were at her hips, resting comfortably. "You know, this kind of reminds me of prom."

Marceline's eyes twinkled at that, "You mean with how we're standing? Yeah." She nodded, "It does. I even still remember the song we danced to."

The smile on his face made her heart melt. It felt good to see him look at her like that after the awkward, short glances they shared for the past three weeks. It was only for a short time but it felt like months with everyday she wasn't able to pester him and he wouldn't show up at her house without letting her know until he was at the front door.

"I wanted to tell you how I felt that night." His forehead had comfortably rested against her own, his eyes staring down at the floor in thought but she was unable to tear her eyes away from him. "I knew what I wanted to say but... I couldn't do it."

"You thought I was going to say no?" Marceline asked, watching and feeling him nod rather slowly. It disappointed her to know that he thought she was going to reject him when she thought the reverse. If they hadn't been so warped in their own thoughts then they could've been together quite a while ago. They could've been together nearly a year ago. "I wouldn't have."

Josh sighed, relieved, before gazing at her with a soft smile. Her fingers rubbed along the back of his nape tenderly, letting her nails glide over his prickled skin. His green eyes tore away from her brown pupils before looking back down at her lips, fighting the temptation to kiss her again.

"Alright, love birds." Both of them had looked towards the door to see Beth, leaning against the door frame. "You guys wanna go banging headboards, you might as well go to the Guest cabin."

Instantly, Marceline's was buried in Josh's shirt, not wanting to reveal her heated and red face. Josh chuckled at her flustered actions, "That's not a bad idea, what do you say, Mars?"

"Shut up!" He heard her yell, smirking as she pushed herself off him and folded her arms across her chest. "I told you a proper date and then I'll think about it."

"You were thinking about it when we kissed." She took a step back as he took a step forward, her eyes looking up at him as she could resolve shaking.

"Guys! Hello!" She waved, "I'm right here."

Marceline slowly slid her way over to Beth, wrapping her arms around the short-haired girl in a tight hug. "Thank you, Beth." She said in a hushed voice.

Beth's hand patted her back, accepting the hug with a smile. "Seeing you happy like this is thanks enough. I'm still grossed out though." She made that point abundantly clear.

"What's everyone up to?" Josh asked, "Were they waiting for us?"

"They honestly thought you two were going at it and kept going with the game." His sister said as Marceline finally pulled away, "Let's go back downstairs."

 **o**

After a few different games, everyone had split off into different groups. Joshua and Chris were drinking at the kitchen, talking about any and everything. Hannah and Sam went to her room and were listening to music last Marceline had seen them while she was with Beth in the cinema, talking about how she hoped the first day of college would be. "I wish we were going to the same school." She sighed as she took a swig of water from her water bottle. She was beginning to sober up since she felt tipsy not too long ago from all the drinking games.

"I know." said Beth as she picked up a pizza roll, taking a bite out of it. "But you'll be with Josh, so you won't be lonely."

"Josh isn't going to be with me all the time, y'know." Marceline gave her a pout, "He'll be majoring in directing and I'll be in acting, so we won't see much of each other on campus."

"Not true!" She interjected, "He'll need to do school films and you can always be his lead actress."

Her eyes lit up, wondering why she hadn't thought of that. "That's so true!" The idea of being in one of Josh's films made her want to laugh because could obviously guess what the film would be about. "But uh, did Caleb text you back?"

"Did he text me back?" Beth rolled her eyes and shook her head, "He sext'd me back! It was so gross and lame." She shook her head again, "I can't believe that Jessica thinks I like him."

"Well, would you want her to know who you really like?" She already knew. Beth had the biggest crush on Matthew. It was obvious, but neither one of them had ever spoke about it. Marceline was rooting for them and since they were both going to UCLA, she was sure that it would finally managed to get the courage to confess.

Her eyes watched Beth recline into the chair, "No way!" Her arms stretched above her, "I don't want any one of them to know. The only ones that know are you and Hannah."

"Why didn't you tell Sam? I'm sure Sam wouldn't tell. She knew I liked Josh for a while and never interfered." Taking another gulp of water, she kicked her feet up.

"Sam and I aren't as close as you and I are. She's Hannah's best friend, not mine." Marceline glanced over at Beth, giving her a mischievous smile. "What?"

"Are you saying I'm your best friend, Bethy-boo~"

With a deep curl of her lips and a roll of her eyes, Beth sighed. "If you call me that again, you can consider this friendship canceled."

"You know you love it." The stare she was given made her laugh, "Alright, I'll stop."

The silence between them was peaceful and friendly, and Marceline was glad that things never got awkward between the two of them. "Beth." She called her name, waiting for her to reply.

"Yeah?" Slowly shifting her gaze towards Marceline, who was staring blankly ahead.

"Thanks again for stepping in between me and Josh." Her voice was much softer, "I can't believe how much of an idiot I was."

"You're thanking me for that again?" Marceline chuckled as she could hear a groan rumbling in Beth's throat. "I'm always going to look out for you, just like you look out for me." Her words made Marceline's eyes crinkle. "Who was the one who took a volleyball in the face for me?"

Chuckling, her palm slapped against her face. "Please don't remind me of that!"

"You just jumped in the way to help me! And you even got a black eye." Beth's laugh had made he her want to smile, despite how much she wished that memory would go away and never surface her mind again. "You've done as much for me as I've done for you, so don't sweat it."

"What's with the Washington family and their super kindness?" Marceline asked, "You, Josh, and Hannah… You guys are way too nice for your own good, sometimes."

Beth smiled at that. "Well, when Dad became busy with movies, all we really had was each other and Josh and mom." Her eyes looked lost in thought as Marceline watched their expression. "Han and I really clung onto Josh when we were little. Josh and Dad were really close when he was young, and when Dad didn't have time for us we just spent most of our time clinging onto Josh since we rarely saw Dad."

"Because of that we learned how important attachments were. I guess since there was an extra place where we were supposed to give our dad, we gave it to our friends instead." Beth nodded, trying to confirm her words since she always felt it but never explained it. "I think Josh just needs a little more love to fill that space." Her eyes then glanced over to Marceline, giving her a small smile. "And I know you can fill it for him."

Marceline had reached for Beth's hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "I will."

"Now," Standing up, "no more of this sappy talk. Let's see what everyone is up to."

Agreeing with her, both of them had went up stairs to see Josh and Chris practically passed out. Marceline placed on her hip, shaking her head. "I'll try to wake them up so they can go to bed" She let Beth know as she walked over to Josh, "Josh, c'mon, get up." She whispered, not wanting to be too loud.

"Mars," His speech was slurred, "you're… you're my girlfriend now."

"Mhm." She hummed, not really paying him any attention since he was drunk. Even though she did want to smile as he claimed her as his girlfriend.

"But you are…" He sniffed and raised his head before shaking it, "we should totally celebrate with some pizzzzaaa."

"Pizza?" She repeated, "We already have pizza."

He squeezed his eyes, obviously trying to think. "We already… already celebrated?"

"Yes, Josh." As soon as she laid him down on the couch, she sighed heavily out of relief. "We already celebrated."

A goofy smile stretched across his face. "Awesome."

Bending her knees, she rubbed her thumb against his cheekbone in a slight stroke. "Go back to sleep."

"If I do then… you'll leave." His hand reached out to her hand, "You should stay."

"I can't. You need to go to your room and lay down." Her other hand rested on top of the one that was holding hers, giving him a pat. "I really need to take my vitamins anyway." She mumbled that last bit.

Beth had noticed a piece of paper on the counter and deciding to let her curiosity get the better of it, she picked it up and turned it around. With a roll of her eyes, she shook her head. "What did our naive sister get herself into now?"

"What was that?" Marceline looked away from Josh and at Beth. "Something wrong with Hannah?" Worried, she walked over towards her.

"I don't know but I'm going to—" Her eyes looked outside to see a figure. "There's someone outside."

Alarmed, Marceline tried to look out of the window but hadn't seen anything. "I don't see it. Do you recognize who it was?"

"No, but let's get everyone together." With a nod, they had both ran towards the main room and heard footsteps going towards the front door. Both of them had looked at one another perplexed over what was happening but were determined to find out. As Beth grabbed her pink coat, Marceline grabbed her black one and quickly wrapped Josh's red scarf around her neck. "Hannah!" From the sound of it, it sounded like Samantha.

Beth and Marceline picked up the pace once they heard Hannah's name, they pushed past the group and looked out into the distance.

Hannah was nowhere in sight.

All there was before them were large trees of various sizes and a snowstorm. "What's going on? Where's my sister going?" Beth questioned, aiming to get to the bottom of this quickly

Her eyes then ventured to Jessica, who spoke up and waved her hand rather dismissively. "Ugh.. it's fine... she just can't take a joke."

"Joke?" Marceline squinted, shaking her head out of confusion. "What joke?"

"It was just a prank, Han!" Emily called out.

"What prank?" She questioned, still unsure what they were talking about. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Yeah!" Beth joined in, thoroughly confused as she was as to what was going on. "What did you do?"

"We were just messing around, guys." Michael tried to explain but he sounded just as dismissive about the subject like Jessica. "It wasn't serious—"

Annoyed and worried for her twin, Beth turned to them. "You jerks!" She then sprinted off trying to find out where Hannah went. "Hannah! Hannah!"

Unlike Beth, she wanted to find out what this prank was. And she would be damned if she stood there being confused for a second longer. Taking in a deep breath, Marceine glared at each and everyone that stood before her. "Why is nobody telling me what this prank was?!" She demanded while being frustrated, concerned about Hannah, and slightly shivering from the cold. The winds would not relent, not even for a second.

Samantha, while having such a guilty face, thought it was best she was the one to explain. After all, she was unbiased and didn't agree with the prank anyway. She assumed that Marceline wouldn't be all too pissed at her. "Jess wrote a note pretending Mike wanted to… y'know, make out."

"We were going to jump out and surprise her but it went horribly wrong!" Ashley said, shaking her head with her face buried into her hands. Her shoulders trembled, obviously ashamed of it.

"And I was recording it so we could all…" Matt sighed, "laugh about it later." His admission made the taste in her mouth go bad. Even Matthew was in on this? As sweet as he was, even he thought this was funny?

"What the fuck?!" Infuriated, she then looked up at Michael. He would be the first she called out, "You know how much Hannah likes you, Mike! Why the hell would you think this was okay?!" Her eyes then looked at the rest of the group, giving them as a lashing as well. "Why would any of you think that was okay?! What kind of prank is that?!" Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Beth nor Hannah had returned yet. "I'm going after them."

"It's way too cold and dangerous." Michael had warned her, grabbing her arm to force her to stay behind. "They'll be back." His words did not reassure her. In fact, just him talking to her and even daring to touch her was enough to set her off.

"Get your _fucking_ hands off me." She warned him, her eyes narrowed nearly into slits as her brows were scrunched together. Her lips curling into a deep-set frown, "You guys are fucking assholes. Each and every one of you."

Jerkng her arm away from him, Marceline had broke out into a jog after Beth. The adrenaline of finding them was what kept her pumped and going, ducking over stray branches and logs of trees that protruded from the snow. Her instincts made her rely on Beth's recent footprints and tried to stay on her trail. Her hands cupped around her mouth, trying to make her yells sound louder. "Beth!" She called out, "Beth! Wait up, let's find Hannah together!"

The darkness due to how late it was and the flurry of snow made it hard to see. The cold, strong air was forcing its way in her lungs, making her cough a few times. Her eyes squinted as she patted her pockets to find something to light the way but she could find a phone. She would have to strain her eyes as best as she could to keep following Beth's footprints now. "Beth! Beth!" She constantly screamed, not finding any trace of her. There were sounds of nearby animals and even snapping twigs. Marceline couldn't differentiate if it was Beth or a Deer. "C'mon, Beth! Can you hear me?!"

After a while, she noticed how far away she was getting from the lodge. Her eyes slowly looked back, wondering if she should've slapped Josh sober. Maybe she should've forced the rest to help her but she was too infuriated to ask for their help. They were probably the last people Hannah wanted to see anyone. But how would Josh feel about this? Angry no doubt. Shaking her head, she focused back on the trail.

Beth's footsteps soon led her few far awayy from the lodge, her eyes squinted until she saw two dark shadows huddled together. As she got closer, she could see them clearly. They were holding onto each other, eyes wide and looking terrified. Marceline was relieved to see them, "Beth! Hannah, its me!" Marceline rushed over to them.

"Oh my God!" Hannah cried out, clinging onto her. "Someone was chasing us."

"Chasing you? W-Who was chasing you?" She asked, "I didn't see anyon—"

A loud screech echoed in the air and then a dark shadow came towards them. From the distance, it looked like a man but it was still a dark figure, but it was the outline of a person nonetheless. And a person could be brought down, but it looked as if the person had something in their hands. Marceline had let go of Hannah, fiercely putting herself in front of them to protect them. "S-Stand back!" She yelled at the dark figure, "I'll hurt you if you step any closer." She warned, knowing she had nothing in her arsenal but maybe a threat might lure him away. There was three of them and only one of him. That was enough, for now, to make him recede.

He hadn't though. Instead, he shouted at them as he got close enough for them to see him just barely. "Get away from here!" It was as if he was warning them than he was aiming to commit harm. Marceline's eyes squinted, brows knitted together in confusion. "It's dangerous out here!"

"Ah!" Hannah's scream surprised her, making her sharply turn around to see the two hanging off a branch that was poking out of the ledge. Her eyes widen in fear, trying to conjure up a plan that could help them.

"N-No! No no!" Her hands moved quickly to unwrap Josh's scarf from around her neck, she reached it down and Beth grabbed the ends of it. Beth swung from the branch and towards the red scarf but from their combined weight, the red material began to slip through Marceline's hands despite how tightly she was holding onto it. They began to lower until Marceline decided to try to pull it back by getting herself on her feet. Planting them firmly in the snow covered ground and taking a few steps back whenever she felt steady enough. "Hang on!" She urged them, her eyes pooling with tears as she could feel the palms of her hands burning as the red-dyed wool slid fiercely across her skin.

Falling forward from their weight, being unable for her to handle alone, she felt herself sliding closer to the edge just until her head was able to peer down at them. "Don't let go! Don't let go!" Marceline wasn't giving up. She couldn't give up until they were safe. She would not stop until she saw them climb up this ledge and stand next to her.

From what she could see, Beth was still holding Hannah's wrist, tightly, as she held the end of the scarf with her other hand. Marceline then noticed the wooden poles next to her and decided to wrap her end of the scarf around that to pull them up, but the material began to tear. "No! No no!"

It was sudden but something wrapped itself around her ankle, tightly too. It felt like a hand but the size was much too large for it to even begin be close to human. It pulled her leg, helping her pull back the scarf, so much that she could see Beth's beanie peering from the edge, which nearly relived her. It tugged her leg, hard, forcing the scarf to slid out of her hands as it dragged her across the snow. "No! Stop! Get off of me!" Her fingers tried to dig through the snow to crawl away but there was nothing for her to hold onto. She tried kicking her feet, but whatever it was, it was too strong and the hold it had on her ankle would not loosen. Not even a bit.

"Beth! Hannah!" Marceline called out, hoping they had been able to climb up the rope on time but she hadn't see either one of them and once a strong gust of wind had blown, she had see the scarf had tore in half. "No!" Tears began sliding down her face as she shook her head, fearing the worse had happened. "Beeettttthhhhhh!" She cried out, fiercely shaking her head. "Haannnaaah!"

A sob choked itself out of her throat, hot tears spilling down the corner of her eyes as her throat began to tighten from her crying as she slammed her hands into the ground. Her eyes soon widened as a blurry but still visible stream of fire had flew over her head and made whatever that had its hold onto her leg let go. "Get out of here, girl! You'll die if you just lay there!" It was that man again, he was really helping her. But who was he fighting? Or _what_ was he fighting? No, it didn't matter. She had to help Hannah and Beth.

Standing up on her feet, she tried to force herself back to the ledge for Hannah and Beth. Just like before, she was pulled back again but this time by the back of her jacket. Streams of fire came again, barely missing her as whatever held onto her screeched loudly, enough to force her to cover her ears from how loud it was. The loud, shrilling noise made her ears ring rather painfully, giving her a headache in the process.

The smell of burning flesh had soon filled her nostrils, making her heave and want to vomit. Her mind was muddled, distraught as to what was going on. All she could think about was Hannah and Beth, but whatever that was holding her wouldn't free her. It wouldn't let her go back to them. It wouldn't let her save her friends.

Then fire came again, the screeching much louder this time and it must've done greater damage because whatever that was holding onto her had thrown her. Her body flung across the air until her back had squarely hit the hard bark of a tree, knocking the air out of her lungs and making her fall into unconsciousness; leaving her lying in the snow.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Bet you guys didn't see that happening. Did ya? Its not a big difference, but it _is_ a difference.

I'm sorry this chapter was short, this was supposed to be one big chapter instead of two parts. I want to keep the suspense, so I'll leave it here. It'll be a while until I update next since I'll be quite busy!

P.S.

I like to imagine that Josh and Mars danced to "Angels" by The XX on prom, but I personally made "Come and Lie" by Jhameel their theme song because it gets me in the mood to write them. "Fuck 'Em Only We know" by Banks is another song that helps me write for them.


	6. Chapter Six: Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** Omg, I can't answer some of these reviews. I want to but I have to keep things in this story a mystery. Glad to know you guys have no idea where I'm going with this though.

 **The World in Black and White** : I had a hard time deciding when I was going to get them together tbh. I think now is a good time because she's super emotionally invested in the Washingtons, Josh most of all. Me too, Beth was my favorite. / wipes tear ) Haha, you have to read and find out.

 **Chloe:** Thank you! Since I made Marceline an affectionate person, she would definitely fight hard for people she loves/cares about. (ง'̀-'́)ง Brave and Charitable are Marceline's highest character traits in Until Dawn standards.

* * *

It was quiet, eerily so. Even though he had drunk so much with Chris, he found himself waking up and his head was pounding. It felt as if someone was beating the back of his brain like a drum over and over, continuing a throbbing rhythm and making the pain worse as it continued on. He groaned out of agony as he groggily lifted his head from his arm, his green eyes blurred from sleep. Joshua's mouth felt dry as blinked the blurriness away and smacked his lip. His hand then rubbed the side of his face before he slowly leaned into it to keep his head up. Once he could fully see, he saw Chris staring down at the island counter in a sleepy haze, his eyes were squinting as he was trying to wake himself up completely. "Chris," Josh muttered, his friend slowly looking at him, "wake up."

"I am awake. Well," His shoulders when up and down, "not really."

Josh shook his head as Chris' head kept dipping, his body was acting as if his head was the heaviest thing on his body. Joshua looked around to see that they were the only ones in the kitchen and due to the quietness of the lodge, everyone had to be asleep or in another part of the large estate.

"Where is everyone?" His best friend asked, wincing as he rested his head against the palm of his hand. "Damn, my head hurts…" Adjusting his glasses, he looked at Josh who was slowly getting up from his chair with some difficulty. "What time is it anyway?"

"I dunno but let's sober up, Cochise." Joshua casually walked over to the sink, grabbing the nearest glass and filling it up before chugging it down. It felt good down his throat. That cooling sensation had made his body shiver in a good way, and helped him wake up just a little bit more.

"Uh," Chris shook his head and raising his hands in an exaggerated confused gesture, "how am I supposed to sober up if you can't even give me some water, bartender?" He teased before scooting his chair back, "Guess I have to do it myself." He got his own glass and began to fill it up.

"It's awfully quiet, don't you think?" His eyes slowly looked at his best friend, feeling weird about how quiet it was. How could eleven teenagers possibly be this quiet? There was no way everyone went to sleep. Something just wasn't really adding up.

The blond shrugged, "I'onno." Taking another sip of water, he sighed afterwards. "Maybe everyone went to bed."

"Maybe." Josh had then went into the hallway and then noticed that Beth's jacket, which was lying on the sheet covered chair as he last remembered, was gone.. He remembered clearly that's where she left it and Marceline's had been on the chair next to it, but neither jacket was nowhere in sight. Squinting, he wondered if they had put their jackets elsewhere. There was no way they could've went outside.

"I think it's time we wake up, Josh." He heard Sam, "It has been two hours and they haven't came back yet."

Walking towards everyone who was standing rather suspicious at the front door with their heads down and their expression mixed with worry and guilt. The eldest Washington child looked at them rather skeptically, "What's everyone doing?" He finally asked, scaring them yet capturing their whole attention.

"Josh!" Ashley jumped as if she had seen a ghost. "Uhm…" She hummed, her fingers nervously twiddling together.

Everyone looked alert, guilty, and just overall strange. It was starting to bother Joshua. "Who hasn't been back? Did someone go out?" He kept up with the questions. "Beth and Mars' jackets are missing."

Jessica and Emily kept their eyes on the floor as Ashley began to bury her face in her hands. Samantha and Michael looked as if they were trying to think of something while Matthew turned around to keep staring out window. "Josh…" Sam said, trying to say this as calmly as possible.

Josh glanced around at the ground before resting on Sam, giving her his full attention. "Sam, what's going on?"

Chris had soon joined them, "Why is it so awkward right now? You can cut this tension with a knife and serve a slice." His hand made a slicing motion as he said slice, trying to keep the air light but it ended up failing. It was still thick and heavy, and somewhat making it difficult to breathe.

"Beth, Hannah, and Marceline ran outside." Sam shook her head, "And they haven't come back."

Joshua's eyes widened, surprised. "W-Why would they do that? What happened?!"

"A terrible, _terrible_ prank made Hannah upset and she ran outside. Beth and Marceline went to go look for her but they haven't been back. We were waiting to see if they found Hannah and calmed her down, but…" Samantha sighed, hating herself as she tried to explain.

"My little sisters and Mars are out there and all of you are just standing around?!" His voice rose as disbelief spread across his features. He was obviously angry, as he should be, "Do you know all the dangerous animals that are out there? How cold it is? Marceline's can't be out there! She has iron deficiency! She can't push herself!" Distraught, Josh took his coat off his coat rack. "I have to go find them."

"I'm coming with you." Chris said while grabbing his coat. His eyes glanced at Ashley as she looked too ashamed to look at him, he tore his eyes away from and then looked at his best friend with a much more determined expression. "C'mon, Josh."

Both boys went out the front door. "I'm going with them." Samantha said as she grabbed her jacket, "Jess, Em, and Ash… You guys stay behind in case they come back." She said, coming up with a plan. "Matt, Mike, and I are going to help Chris and Josh." Everyone nodded, agreeing. Sam, Matthew, and Michael had placed on their coats before going out but before Samantha followed them out the door, she stopped for a few seconds to look at Emily, "Oh, and Emily, call a Park Ranger. If you can't reach them, go to the cable car station and use the radio."

Sam, Michael, and Matthew had caught up with Chris and Josh. "We're going to help. Matt and I will break off in one team, and Michael will go with you two." Josh glanced at her and then at Michael and Matthew. He had a suspicion that Michael was apart of that prank. That's the only person that could upset his sister to the extent of going outside in a snowstorm. Still, he couldn't question or start a fight. He had to find them first.

"Their footprints probably got covered up by the snow." Christopher said as he looked down at the ground, not seeing the slight trace of anything that resembled a human foot on the ground. The snow looked smooth and pristine as if nobody had went out.

"I don't care. We have to find them." Joshua declared, not trying to offend Chris but too worried that they wouldn't be able to find the three girls.

They used their cellphones as flashlights. Michael remained quiet, knowing that talking wouldn't help ease Joshua's worry. Both his sisters and his girlfriend were missing. How could he be rational? It was obvious he was trying to be strong but you could see it in his eyes just how afraid he was.

Joshua walked ahead of them, Chris slowing down so that he could keep his pace the same as Michael's. "Mike, tell me what happened."

"Chris, I don't think this is the time." Michael insisted. He didn't want to talk about it because he felt guilty enough, but he also didn't want to remember the look on Hannah's face once it was exposed that everyone was in the room with them. Michael doubted that he could ever forget or erase that look of hurt in her eyes.

"I need to tell Joshua the story. If you do it or anyone else that was involved in that prank, he might snap." Christopher tried to explain, knowing that he was the only one Josh would listen to. It would've been Sam but knowing that she was involved in some sort of way ( even if she was against it but still knew ), he could tell it would be a while before his anger subsided for her and understood that she was the good person out of all of this.

The Class President began telling the tale of how the whole prank started. How they thought it would be funny to tease Hannah, and they thought she would take the joke with a grain of salt. Of course, they were wrong and she ran off. Beth ran after her and Marceline demanded an explanation, told them off, and then ran after the two.

"Wow…" said the blue-eyed boy, shaking his head. "Poor Hannah…" He mumbled.

Michael didn't say anything as he then looked around, shielding his eyes from the strong winds and snow. The rest of the way was quiet. They called out each of the girls' name, somewhat hoping that they would hear a response back. After two hours, they had no idea just how far out they were.

"Chris! Mike!"

Both of them had ran towards Josh after he called their names. Joshua bent his knees, pointing to the ground. "The snow melted around here."

Chris and Mike had both bent down, inspecting the area. "Whoa, do you think they made a fire?" Michael asked.

"Why would they do that?" Chris shook his head, "I don't think they would want to stay out here and roast marshmallows. Something happened here." The blond was sure. "Let's keep going forward in this direction until we see anything else." They kept going, flashing their phones in every which way possible. "You know, I had a tracker app for situations like this. If everyone had just downloaded it, the search would've been much easier."

"Chris, now is not the time to talk about your stupid apps!" Michael barked, annoyed, but then simmering down. "Besides, that's creepy."

"Yeah, it kinda is." Joshua agreed. "Why would you need to track us?"

Looking at them both, he raised his hands. "In case one of us got, I dunno, lost? I think about stuff like this. What if there was a zombie apocalypse? That'd be the quickest way for all us to get together, right? You have to think about these things." Joshua and Michael gave him a long, blank stare before looking ahead. "Wow, some _friends_ you guys are."

"Wait, you see that?!" Michael then flashed the light of his phone to what looked like a shadow on the ground. All of them had slowly inched forward, careful with their steps since they didn't know what it was. It soon became clear that it was a person lying next to a tree, face down with their face buried deep into the snow. Upon closer inspection, the long brown hair was a dead giveaway.

"That's Marceline!" Joshua broke out into a sprint, both Chris and Michael following close behind him. "Marceline! Marceline!" He yelled, hoping she would hear him and wake up. His eyes were burning as he slid to a halt, practically falling in his knees as he lifted her up. "O-Oh fuck, oh fuck! She's... She's not moving! She's not moving, you guys! W-Why isn't she moving?! Why isn't she _moving_?!"

Her lips were blue and her body felt limp. How wobbly her arm was, was a great indicator that her arm was dislocated from her shoulder. "Oh my God…" Michael whispered, his hands pressed to his head in disbelief. "What the _fuck_ happened to her?!"

"She must've hit the tree." Chris tried to reason, trying to think of a possible scenario. "She might've ran and accidentally ran into it. It's dark out here and she d-didn't have her phone." Chris had to be the levelheaded one despite how afraid he was about Marceline's condition and what might've happened while she was out here. He had to make sure Josh and Michael were calm, especially Josh. This was the girl he loved after all, and he couldn't let Josh think the worse. "Let's just get her inside immediately. We have to warm her up and make sure she gets to a hospital as soon as possible! Matt's a football player, he might know how to fix her arm."

"Its gonna be alright, Marceline." Joshua tried to coax her, pressing her body close to his own. He rocked back and forth, burying his face in the crook of her neck. It was obvious he was crying, his voice going in and out. "If she's like this t-then Beth and Hannah…" His mind was becoming hazy, muddled. His fears were starting to take form inside his head, scenarios of the worse things that could've happened out here. He was beginning to think of his sisters in the same condition or even worse.

"Josh, take her back to the lodge." His best friend remained calm, trying to get Josh out of his thoughts and into reality. "Mike and I will keep looking for Hannah and Beth. Sam and Matt already are, and we don't know if either one of them made it back to the lodge. Stay calm. C'mon Josh, be calm. Be calm for _her_." He didn't want to mention his medication in front of Michael but the look Joshua saw in his eyes was a nod towards that.

The brown-haired boy weakly nodded before lifting the unconscious girl in his arms and took off in a run.

 **o**

 _It was warm. It felt like she was in an enclosed space, like a room. Her eyes soon opened to see that she was standing near the stairway, right near the front door. Her eyes looked around, quickly observing the place until the clues came rushing at her._

 _She was at this place._

 _This was the first place she ever considered home. It was the place she grew up in. It was where she used to have dinner with her parents. Kiss her father to work and wave her mother goodbye when she went to school. It was the same place where she opened her Christmas presents and when her mother used to read her in bed. This was home. Her first home. The home that she had missed._

 _"Mom?" Her eyes looked back at the front door to see it opened. A woman and a young girl standing there. Her mother, much youthful then and as beautiful as she could remembered. Her mother's long, black hair that would lay neatly on her shoulders and her round, big brown eyes always held a happy glint. Marceline had to been thirteen then, looking at her mother, clearly confused as to why she had a suitcase. "Mom, where are you going?"_

 _Her mother's hand gently rubbed the back of her head, comforting her young self. "I have to go away, Marceline." A smile was on her face but there was nothing happy about it. It seemed forced. Painful. "I have to go away for a while."_

 _"But why?" She asked, "How come Dad and I aren't going with you?"_

 _"Where I'm going, you both can't go. You have to stay with your Dad company and happy. Please, Marceline, do that for me? That's all I can really ask."_

 _With a hesitant nod, she decided to accept her mother's answer. "When will you come back? You'll miss my ballet recital if you don't come back on time."_

 _"I don't know, sweetheart. We'll see each other again, I promise you."_

 _Her mother said nothing else and slowly turned to walk out the door. From here, Marceline couldn't see past the door. Instead there was a vast and white empty space before her. Once her mother walked through it, it was liked the white light swallowed her whole until there was nothing left. "Mom!" Afraid, Marceline followed her through the door, rushing past her young self. "Mom!"_

 _But there was nothing._

 _Not a single person in sight._

 _The white space had transformed into a large snowdrift, and in the distance, she could see the lodge. Her eyes looked down, seeing her hands red and irritated as if she had been burned. She was in a black coat, snow boots, but there was half of a red scarf around her neck. Marceline tried to remember how she had gotten here. She wasn't sure why she was here, but then she remembered they were staying at the Washington Lodge._

 _Looking away from her hands, she looked to see Hannah and Beth standing before her. Hannah was wearing Beth's pink coat while Beth wore a wool sweater and a beanie. "Beth? Hannah?" She whispered, confused yet surprised._

 _Beth gave her a smile, Hannah too. "Why are you looking like that, Marce?"_

 _"Yeah," Hannah's soft voice said, "you look like you're seeing a ghost. Is something wrong?"_

 _Marceline couldn't help but smile, shaking her head. "I just don't know why I'm here. Why are we outside?"_

 _Hannah and Beth glanced at one another before looking back at her. "We have to tell you something." Hannah's eyes looked down at the ground._

 _Worried, Marceline walked over to them grabbing their hands. "What's wrong?"_

 _"We need you to take care of Josh for us." Beth answered, "We can't take be there for him now, so do it for us."_

 _"Beth, what are you talking about? Why do I need to take care of Josh? Josh is fine." She insisted, not sure what they were talking about._

 _"He's going to need you." said Hannah, both of them began to squeeze her hands. "So please, do this... for us."_

 _"I'd do anything for you guys." Marceline nodded. "We're friends, remember?"_

 _"We know, but we have to go." Beth then looked at her sister. "I know you'll keep your promise, Marce."_

 _Why were they so cold? She pondered. Was this a dream? At the same time it had felt so real. She could feel the cold wind on her cheeks and their hands holding hers. "Where are you guys going? We need to go back to the lodge."_

 _Beth shook her head, "See ya, Marce."_

 _"Beth!" Marceline felt their hands slip away from hers as they walked away. "Beth! Hannah!"_

 **Six weeks after Hannah and Beth's disappearance...**

Voices. All she could remember was hearing a whole lot of them, even though she couldn't coherently hear them. Some had sound familiar but others sounded like they belonged to complete strangers, but all of them sounded like someone trying to speak underwater. None of them ever made sense but the ones that she deemed as familiar, particularly a set few, made a surge of warmth flood through her chest. They would calm her and made the fear of the blurred images of faces looking down at her disappear. She would see them but they would move away and things would become dark all over again. Marceline would constantly fade in and out of consciousness and the only sort of memory that she could remember at the time was that same dream of Hannah and Beth. They would constantly coax her to "wake up" and she had no idea what they meant. Why was she not awake? And why did they keep leaving? They would never stay, and constantly kept asking her protect Josh. The dreams would be repetitive with few minor differences. No matter how much she tried to change them, they always ended the same.

Gradually, things had started to become much clearer and she was becoming more aware during those short times of consciousness. Marceline began to understand that she was in the hospital and could very well hear the heart monitor, and she could hear few of her visitors very closely. Joshua visited her a lot of what she could hear and he always held her hand, promising to do this and that when she woke up. Her grandmother was the second constant, who prayed to her in Castilian and asking Mother Mary to take care of her and bring her back. Chris, Ashley, and Sam fought for third place, and she knew Sam and Ash constantly brought her flowers while Chris brought cards and balloons.

Chris would always tell her about his day and always said a few jokes, and would even laugh at his own jokes, which amused her. Bob and Melinda had even came to visit her, hoping that she would wake up soon and Melinda would tell her how much Joshua misses her and how happy she was to know that the two of them were a couple now. Matthew would keep apologizing and saying how she was right that he was a better person than what he did. Michael would always say she was right about him, and that he was an asshole. Jessica would tell her about happy things, pretending as if nothing ever happened, and Emily would constantly apologize too, much to her surprise. She knew Emily was only saying it out of guilt and because she was alone during her visits. Her words did sound genuine though. The only people that never came were Beth and Hannah, which worried her. Marceline began to wonder if they were in the same condition as she was in and probably hadn't woken up yet. Never in her mind did she think they were still missing or even worse, dead.

Today was the day she was finally able to open her eyes. She was even strong enough to force herself to sit up. Marceline could very much remember who she was, which was a good thing, but she couldn't recall exactly why she was here. How did she get in here? What happened? Her memory of what happened at the ledge was blocked. Inaccessible to her. All she could remember was looking for them, and that was it. What happened after that was nothing but a blur and would give her a needle-like throb in her head, which would make her give up and focus on what was happening now.

A nurse had walked in, gasping when she had seen her. Her eyes lazily looked at the woman, who immediately went running out of the room. She had returned with more nurses and more doctors, and they had flooded her with a series of questions: they asked her if she knew her name and family, telling her about the many people that diligently came. Marceline knew, she could recall the visitors and even specific visits but hearing the numbers made her happy. She managed to answer as truthfully and clearly as possible to anything they had asked her except the last question. Marceline still did not know why she was here or what happened to bring her here.

As she continued to sit up, her body had felt rather heavy and she began to feel even more drowsy. The IV in her arm was irritating, but she knew she needed it. Her hair looked as if it grown some, which made her worry about how much time had passed. Her eyes had then looked at the bright colors from the corner of her eyes to see the vases of flowers and the balloons touching the ceilings. Some of the flowers looked new and were still alive while others seemed to be wilting or possibly dead.

The door to her room had opened, she assumed it was probably a doctor or nurse that wanted to run some more tests and check her condition. She was hoping it was on her friends, but she felt it might be too early since it read eleven o' clock on the wall clock. However, she was startled when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her, her head pressed to their shoulder. From the scent alone, she knew who it was. "Josh…" Her voice was quiet as she let Joshua continued his embrace. Marceline raised her hand, rubbing the back of his head gingerly as she could feel his soft brown hair between her fingers.

His hold on her had tightened as her arms weakly encircled him. "I'm sorry for leaving you to worry about me." She felt so inclined to apologize, hoping that he would forgive her.

"I was so scared…" His voice was low, and she could feel him trembling. His throat felt taut as he tried to not to break down. He didn't want to stress her or make her worry. Josh felt that he wasn't the one who needed comforting, it was her. She had been in a coma for six weeks and the doctors always sounded positive saying she had brain activity, but they were never sure when she would wake up. He was always scared it would take a year or more, but he was glad that after six weeks she was awake and she could remember him. She didn't even have to see his face, she instantly knew it was him and that was enough for him.

"I'm sorry…" Marceline apologized again, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Don't be." His words made her smile, which was easy enough considering she found it easy to smile by just seeing him. "You're awake and that's all that matters." His hand rubbed against her back, giving her a sense of comfort. "I almost thought I lost you too."

"Lost me… too?" Confused, she pulled back from him and looked up at him. His eyes looked down, unable to look her in the eyes. His hands quickly cupped hers, "What are you talking about?"

"We'll talk about it later." Managing to pull his lips up into a smile, his eyes then gazed at her own. His hand let go hers and then pressed itself against her cheek, letting his thumb caress the side of her face. Too busy comforted by the warm touch, she leaned into it rather sleepily. "After being in a coma for that long, you're still tired?"

"I don't want to be." She answered, her lips forming a pout, which made him smile wider. "But you're warm…" Her hand rested on top of his, wanting to keep his hand pressed to her face.

"Its because after so many days of rain, it finally warmed up." Josh looked out towards the window, her eyes following his gaze to a cloudless sky. "But if you want to use me as a human pillow, I don't mind."

Looking at him, she nodded. "I'll hold you to that."

"I should call Granny Serrano." Joshua then used his free hand to pull his cellphone from his pocket, unlocking the screen after entering the pin.

Her brows scrunched together, eyes squinting. "Granny Serrano? You've been spending time with her?"

"Yeah," He nodded, "she calls me grandson, y'know."

"We haven't even been dating that long and she's looking that far ahead…" Marceline couldn't fight her smile. "How is she?"

"She was really worried." He answered truthfully, "She visited everyday until I told her to take a rest." Hearing that made her heart sink, her eyelids lowering as she looked down at the bed in thought with a frown. "I've been taking care of her and making sure she's fine. Your dad came too."

Marceline's eyes widened, looking at him in surprise. "Fuck…" She sighed, "I never wanted him to worry while he was away…"

"Mars..." Placing the phone down on the bed, he placed both his hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. "Its alright. Don't stress yourself. It's not your fault that you got hurt. He's staying with your grandma until you get better and finally leave this place."

She nodded, trying to not stress herself. "I bet Gran-Gran is happy about that."

Picking the phone back up, he had called Aureliana to let her know that Marceline was awake. She smiled as she listened in, seeing how comfortable Joshua had become with her family. They always had a good atmosphere but for her to call him grandson and for him to see her like his own grandma, it made all the stress she felt completely melt away.

"She said they are on their way." He told her, ending the phone call with a tap of his thumb. "I never really spoke much to your dad. He's…uh, _pretty_ intimidating."

Marceline gave him an uneasy smile, "Sorry about that. My dad is really nice though. I know he seems super serious, but he's really sweet. I promise."

"Can't really picture a guy that could squash me with just his thumb as sweet." He then gently poked her forehead, " _But_ I'll take your word for it." Josh smiled as he saw her laugh, "I'll text everyone else that you woke up."

"While I was asleep," She began to say, "I could hear everyone talking to me." Her eyes softened as she reflected back on some of the conversations. "I could hear the nurses having to kick you out because you tried to stay past visiting hours." His eyes looked down in the bed, a smile still on his lips. "What happened to me isn't your fault, okay? There are many things at fault, but not you. Don't ever say it's your fault." He swallowed his hurt, his eyes somewhat glassy as he shoved his phone his pocket. Marceline had scoot closer and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him a tight hug. "I told you I would be here for you. I promised you that, and I don't go back on my promises."

Pressing his lips against her jaw for a quick peck, he began burying his face in her hair. "I know." He gave a slight nod. "It was just…" He paused, not wanting to bring up his sisters. It was too soon to tell her that they were still missing and the investigation was going on strong. Until she was out of the hospital and the doctors thought it was okay for her to be questioned and hearing news of that level, he wouldn't say anything. Josh hated keeping things from her as they had always been honest ( except when it came to their own feelings about each other ), but he had to do it for her mental health. There was no way he could do to her what had been done to him. He wouldn't let her be forced on medication that left her hollow, struggling with voices and hallucinations.

Joshua believed his sisters would be found. He was hopeful they were alive. "Hey, did you eat some Canelés?" She asked, pulling away from him and giving him an annoyed stare.

"Uh…" He looked around before looking at her, confused. "Yeah, why?" Did she really sniff him? And she called _him_ a weirdo for that.

"What the hell? Why didn't you bring me any?" Her eyes narrowed as she asked, her brows scrunching together

Josh tried to stifle a laugh. "This girl…" He shook his head, "You just woke up from a coma and you're thinking about food already?"

"I'm hungry." Her hand rubbed her stomach in small circles. "They had me on a feeding tube and you know it sucks."

He closed his eyes, unable to keep his laugh in. "That's my girl."

"So, are you gonna feed me?" Marceline rubbed her hands together, her eyes big and pleading.

"The hospital is going to give you food. You can't eat some unhealthy or heavy stuff just yet." Pinching her cheek, he watched her give him a glare. "Sorry, babe."

"Tch!" She sucked her teeth, folding her arms as scooting herself back and away from him. "I'm just gonna tell Gran-Gran to feed me. At least _she_ cares!"

Rolling his eyes with a smirk, he took a seat on the chair next to the bed. "You're so spoiled."

"So?" Her lips pursed, "I deserve to be."

"Mhm, you _definitely_ deserve it." She knew for a fact that he was taunting her, which made her eyes squint at him angrily. She wasn't too mad, but she was mad that he had Canelés and didn't get her any. Since when did he eat those anyway? "How does your back and shoulder eel?"

"Super sore." She sighed, "Especially in the middle and so does my shoulder?" It winced whenever she tried to reach her hand back to touch it or even stretch. "How do you know there was something wrong with my back and shoulder?"

"You've been laying down for six weeks." He quickly answered, catching himself. He almost could've reminded her of that night. "I'm sure it would feel sore."

Marceline look down in thought and then nodded, accepting his answer. "Shouldn't you been in class anyway?"

"I don't have classes today." Joshua then took hold of her hand, "Trying to send me away already?"

She shook her head, "No, but I don't want you missing classes just to spend time with me." Her eyes looked down at their joined hands, "Besides, I have nothing to do and I need to know when you have time. I'll be bored here."

"I'll keep you company." He reassured her, "And I'm pretty sure Chris will stop by soon as will the others. You'll get sick of seeing our faces at this rate."

Using her other hand to grab his face, she pulled his cheek as he did hers. "I'll never get tired of this face." She puffed her cheeks, acting as if he was a baby. "This is the _cutest_ face."

Giving her a dull stare, he tried to pull his face away from her hand but to no avail. "Alright, alright."

The door to her room had opened, a nurse coming in. "You have visitors." She said with a cheerful smile. "It's nice to see you awake, Miss. Moreau."

"Uh, thank you!" She politely said as she watched Joshua stand up. "Where are you going?"

"You can only have two visitors at a time." His answer made her puff up her cheeks, irritated. "I'll be right back, alright? Its probably your grandma and dad."

"You promise you'll be back?" Her eyes gazed up at him, grabbing the sleeves of shirt. Instead of giving her a verbal answer, he kissed the top of her head. That was enough reassurance for her and she had let go of his sleeve.

Just as Joshua expected, her grandmother and her father came rushing in. She was given a double hug, her eyes peeking over their shoulders. "Gran-Gran, Papa."

After a minute, they finally freed her and she had given them a smile. Her father was a tall and handsome man with short, wavy hair that he had cut instead of letting grow like he had when he was young. Now it was neatly slicked back, making his brown hair look dark and showing how smooth it was. His eyes were a emerald green and his skin a perfect tan like her grandmother's. He was lean but due to training and his insane workouts she personally witnessed, he bulked up before. Now it seem as if he was losing some weight, probably from eating the healthy foods in Seoul. "I'm so relieved to see you okay." He sighed, letting all his anxiety and worries go with that sigh alone.

"I'm fine." She said rather dismissively as if what she went through was nothing. "You guys worry too much." Her grandmother slapped her shoulder, which made her granddaughter hiss. "Ow!"

"Worry too much?! You were in a coma!" Aureliana fussed, "¡Ay dios mío!¡Esta niña!" Sucking her teeth, she shook her head with her eyes narrowed. Marceline tried to keep her laugh in, enjoying seeing her grandmother not worried and more so angry. It was better than seeing her sad.

Her father, Adrián, tried to calm his mother down in a few words in Castilian. The woman's angry face had then softened, a sigh slipping past her lips. "How are you feeling?" He then asked Marceline, rubbing the side of her head. She had leaned into his touch, very much enjoying be the center of her father's attention.

"Hungry." She answered truthfully, "I'm _super_ hungry."

"Food, that's all this girl thinks about!" Her grandmother had became irritated all over again. "You know she can eat the _whole_ fridge if I don't stop her? She gets that from you and your father."

"Ma!" Her dad felt embarrassed, hearing the nurses that were coming back forth and the room giggling. His cheeks flushed a beet red as he then tried to defend his daughter, "She's been in a coma, of course she's hungry. And she was a growing girl, they eat a lot."

His mother wasn't buying it. The cold stare she was giving him was a clear indicator of that. "Growing girl my—"

"Gran-Gran!" She stopped her from cursing.

"Tch." Folding her arms, she had changed the subject. "Joshua has been coming here everyday." Marceline had gone rigid, her eyes looking at her father from their corners. "He's a good boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Adrián repeated, "Since when did you get a _boyfriend_? That boy? The one that keeps coming here is your boyfriend? The one that's here _now_?"

Biting down on her lip, her eyes looked up at her father. "Uh-huh!" She then placed her hands in prayer form and rubbed them together, "Papa, please! Please don't hurt him or scare him away!"

Adrián rose a brow, "I need to have a talk with him. Weren't you with him when you got hurt?"

"Joshua is not the reason why I got hurt, okay?" She tried to clarify even though she didn't have a single clue of what happened in the first place. Still, she knew that Josh would never hurt her. That much was obvious to Marceline. "I don't remember what happened but I _know_ Joshua is _not_ involved, so be nice to him."

"He should've been taking better care of you." He wasn't buying what she was selling. "You could've died, Marcy." The worry on her face disappeared, the look her face much gentle as she realized just how scared he was. "I could've lost you. You're my only child and…"

"Dad…" Grabbing his hand, holding it firmly, she gave him a warm smile. "I'm fine. I'm sorry you were so scared for me, but trust me when I say this: Joshua was _not_ involved, okay? Please, don't blame him."

It was hard to argue when she was looking at him like that. With a deep, long sigh, he caved. "Alright, but I still want to talk to him."

"That's okay." She gave him a bright smile, "Just be good to him. I care about him, _a lot_ , and I will be very upset if you hurt him _or_ his feelings. Okay, Papa?"

That was an undercover threat. He knew that. "Fine."

"She's got you whipped." His mother mumbled, "I brought you some soup. The food here is terrible! Trust me, I tasted some while visiting."

Adrián smiled as his daughter shook her shoulders in excitement, "Gran-Gran knows what's up!"

They eventually left, her grandmother leaving her food to eat and told the staff to heat them up and that they were approved by the doctor since they were healthy. Marceline was glad she wasn't stuck with the bland hospital food and could eat some cooking that she did like. Joshua said that the group sent text messages, happy that she was awake and arranged different days to see her. Sam even skyped her, expressing how happy she was to see her awake and with energy. Marceline, while happy to see them, was still very much angry. She hadn't forgotten the prank but she knew she would have to talk to them individually about it. The confrontations that she wasn't looking forward to were Jessica, Emily, and Michael but they had to be done.

There was also the fact that Hannah nor Beth were never mentioned or even stopped by. No call or visit. It worried her to no end but Joshua wouldn't answer her questions about them. And it honestly scared her that he didn't. Whatever happened, it left him looking shell shocked and lost, like, he didn't even want to talk about them at all. Then he would swiftly change the subject and her mind would allow him to tear her thoughts away from them before it would come right back. Marceline had to know where they were and how they were. How could she not be worried? Beth was her best friend, and Hannah was just as much as a best friend of hers too. How could she pretend like it was okay to not speak about them and not see them?

Her eyes had glanced at Joshua, who was eating some fries that he got by the nearby fast food place while her father and grandma were visiting her. He often taunted her with it, knowing that she just wanted to dig her hands in and snatch a few fries. It was so tempting but Marceline knew better. She couldn't eat the foods she wanted to just yet and she would have to settle for the nutritional foods. See, her mind would get distracted again and she would lose focus from her goal. Maybe the doctors didn't want her stressing herself out about anything and that's why he wouldn't say anything about his sisters. That made sense. She just woke up. It would overwhelm her to hear anything, but what could possibly overwhelm her into a state of shock that the doctors would not want her to hear?

"What are you thinking about?" Her eyes stopped staring into space, her mind clearing away her thoughts so that she could shift her attention to him.

"What?" She shook her head and clearing away her thoughts, "What did you say?"

"I said what are you thinking about?" He repeated himself, "You looked like you were thinking some heavy stuff."

"I'm just a little confused, that's all." Laying down on the hospital bed, she turned to her side to face him. He seemed so focused on his french fries.

He gave her a slow nod, "You should be. You just woke up. Nothing must make sense to you."

"Only a _few_ things don't make sense to me." Marceline said rather honestly. Joshua's eyes then gazed up at her, meeting her eyes to see that set-lock she would do. It was obvious of what she was thinking but he wouldn't cave because that what was best for her.

"I see." Not saying anything more, he threw the empty fry holder in the trash, wiping his mouth with a napkin before taking the hand sanitizer by her bed to clean his hands.

He leaned over so his elbows were resting against the bed, letting his eyes observe that despondent look on her face. He knew that she was thinking about Hannah and Beth. That much was obvious. She was so close to them, and so why did she know nothing about their whereabouts? The police would want to question her now that she was awake and he hoped that he could delay it for a while.

 **:::**

After a few days, she was released from the hospital. The doctors said she was fine, steadily improving, but she would be wheelchair bound for a while until she could gather full strength in her legs. She could stand easily but walking for a long period time was difficult and so they got her light physical therapy. Joshua had even stayed at her grandmother's home from time to time to help take care of her with her grandmother and father. Adrián would have to go back to the base in Seoul eventually but he planned to stay with her until he was reassured that she was completely fine. The group had promised a "Welcome Home" party for her at Joshua's studio apartment, which she wondered would even go well. She already heard from Josh that everyone was slightly distant from one another after what happened at the lodge. It didn't make her the happier to know that they were merely coming together for her sake.

Right now, she was nibbling down on a granola bar and staying at Joshua's place since the party was tomorrow. He was working on an assignment on his computer, steadily editing and slicing a few scenes since he had a group project about perfect camera angles. His college friends, some that she had met, had left minutes ago. Now Marceline was studying him quietly, liking the fix concentration on his face and just how quickly the mouse would move under his hand. It was always entertaining to see someone doing what they loved and she had always hoped to see Joshua behind the camera one day or at a premiere for his own movie. "Is something on my face?" Her eyes went wide as she noticed he was now looking at her. "You've been staring at me for fifteen minutes straight."

"I just like watching you work." Marceline answered truthfully, "But isn't it hard to make a apple look cinematic?"

"Not really." He smiled, "Don't worry, babe. I got this. This is nothing against a pro." You could say she felt jealous since her semester didn't start in the fall. It was still winter, but next week it would be spring. Spring, Summer, and then Fall. She had such a long way to go before she could do what she wanted. "Someone's birthday is next week."

Her lips went up in a smile, "Mhmm." Looking down at the raisin granola bar, she tilted her head. "I wonder what my boyfriend is going to get me."

"I already have something in mind." He smiled at how her face lit up with curiosity. "You'll like it."

She hated surprises. He knew that. The last time they tried to surprise her, she ended up punching Chris in the stomach because he jumped out from behind the couch and scared her. He remembered the way she kept apologizing and hovering over Chris, feeling bad for what she had done but Josh and Beth wouldn't stop laughing.

He tried his best to think positive thoughts about his sisters and that they would come back. It was almost seven weeks now and there wasn't even a sign that they were found or even alive. Instead of keeping his thoughts on the worse of it, he poured all his attention into his schoolwork and Marceline, using them as a distraction from thinking the worse. The worry would still creep up on him every now and then but as long as he was distracted, he would be able to not mope around.

"How is physical therapy?" Joshua asked, curious to know of her process.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she shrugged her shoulders. "The leg massages are great." She nodded, "Not better than yours, though." She playfully reassured him. "My legs feel wobbly when I try to walk for a good few minutes but I'm getting better. So it's going fine."

He could tell she was frustrated. From as long as they knew each other, he knew she hated relying on people. She always tried to do things herself and asked for help as a last resort. She frowned more than usual when he had to carry her up the steps or push her around in the wheelchair when they went places. It didn't matter what he said to cheer her up, it would only work for a little while until she got one in her sad moods.

"After I edit some of the lighting in these shots, I'll take you upstairs." Marceline nodded, taking another bite from the light snack. His phone began to ring, making his brows furrow questioningly until he answered it. "Hello?" Her eyes watched his face contort in a look of confusion but then remembering something that the person must've asked. "Oh, I got it. I'll bring it right away." Hanging up, he then glance at her. "I have to return Angela her book, she needs it for a test. I'll be right back."

With a quick peck to the forehead, she watched him grab his bookbag and rush out the door. Now left alone in this place, despite how bright it was from the many windows and skylight, she felt lonely. Grabbing the wheels, she had slowly rolled them towards the sitting area to watch tv. Once she was facing the tv, she picked up the remote and pressed the on button and flipped through the channels.

Before she could find something to watch, a knock came from the front door. Placing the remote down, she wheel'd herself over and opened it. It was two men, both of them rather tall, especially since she was sitting down in her wheelchair. She looked at them confused, and somewhat scared. "Hello, we're from the Alberta County police department. Are you Miss Moreau?"

"Uhm, yes. Yes I am." She nodded and moved herself back, "Come in."

They allowed themselves in and looked around before turning to face her. One man had a notepad in his hands while the other kept his hands in his pockets, having a rather calm demeanor. "We'd like to question what happened at the Lodge of February 2nd. You can help us find the Washington twins."

"Find the… twins?" Shaking her head, she closed her eyes briefly before looking up at them. "Are you telling me they're stil missing? They've been missing for _weeks_?"

Both detectives looked at one another and then back at her. They assumed that nobody told her the information since she was the only injured party of the group and was found out in the snow. "Yes, and we heard that you tried to run after Beth Washington after she ran after her sister. Do you remember anything at all?"

Gripping onto her pants, she let out a sigh as she tried to recount the events. "I remember chasing after Beth. I kept calling her name, just asking if she heard me. It was so dark and the snow and wind made it even harder to see and then…" Her eyes squinted as she had suddenly been flooded with a clip of a memory; it was of Beth and Hannah holding each other, backing away from something. Behind them was just the sky, and trees in the distance "And then I found them… at a cliff or a ledge, and they were scared. Petrified."

"Scared? Scared of what, Miss Moreau." The detective insisted.

Marceline combed her fingers through her hair, holding the sides of her head as she tried to not lose her concentration.

 _"Oh my God!" "Someone was chasing us!"_

Hannah's voice echoed in her head, but a slow needling pain pierced through her head. Wincing, squeezing her eyes tightly as she could muster, she shook her head with a pain filled groan. "Hannah... Hannah said someone was chasing them."

"Miss, don't push yourself. Calm down." He tried to relax her, pressing his hand on her shoulder. "Someone was chasing them? So that means you all weren't alone."

She nodded, breathing in and out deeply to regulate her heart that was stammering so fiercely. Her eyes looked into nothingness, digging deep in her memories as much as she could. "There was a man and he had something, like… like a flame thrower. I keep remembering fire, lots of fire."

"A flamethrower?" The one detective that was writing down her words questioned, making sure that Marceline was sure about what she said.

Marceline gave him a quick nod, "I told him to not come any closer but he told us to get away. He wanted us to leave."

"Can you remember what the man looked like? Any description of him you can give us at all? How tall he was? Brown or blond hair?"

Marceline shook her head, slowly this time as she was trying to calm to pain in her head. "No, Detective, I could barely see. It was too dark."

"Can you remember what happened afterwards?" She was then asked. "Anything at all?

Sighing, she shook her head again. She was feeling frustrated. Not at them, but at herself. "No, I can't remember anything after that." The memories stopped there. It was blocked with a thick wall and it wouldn't let her move any closer. "I'm sorry." Her bottom lip began to quiver, her eyes filling up with tears and letting them stream down her face. "I'm sorry! I can't remember anything! I can't remember…"

The younger detective had placed his notepad away and taken her hands in his as she tried blink away the rest of tears that kept pooling at the corner of her eyes, letting out a few sniffs. "You've done an amazing job. You've told us a great deal that'll help us with the investigation. Be proud of yourself that you're helping us get a couple steps closer on finding your friends."

With glassy eyes, she looked up at him and forced herself to smile. "Thank you, Detective."

"If you remember anything else, please let us know." said the older man, giving her a pat on her shoulder after handing her a card with his number and the younger one did the same. She had let it rest in her lap, giving them a nod. She had looked down at their contact cards, wanting to remember their names: Detective Milton Arbogast and Detective Benjamin Stango.

"I will. Thank you for coming by." Marceline helped escorting them out and closed the door. Her sleeves quickly wiped away her tears as she didn't want Joshua to know she had been crying. Marceline wasn't even sure if she wanted to tell him that she knew the twins were still missing with no signs of alive or dead, but he had every right to know what she suddenly remembered and gave the police. This would be a long and awkward talk, but it had to be done.

The anger she felt towards the rest of their friends hadn't subsided either. In fact, it grew. They were all carrying on with their lives despite the fact that Hannah and Beth were missing, and they were the ones at fault at that.

It was an hour later when Joshua walked back in, seeing her stare out the window. "Mars, I'm back. Do you want to eat?"

She said nothing. Her eyes still staring out at the beautiful city of Los Angeles. The sun was setting and so the sky was many of colors; shades of red, orange, and a golden yellow as it was dipping into the horizon. The ocean made it even look even more beautiful and serene, but nothing could calm her resentment and anger that was boiling in her blood.

"Mars?" He called her name again, placing his bag down and slowly making his way over to her. "Mars, what's wrong?"

Kneeling down next to her, he watched her eyes slowly turn to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me Hannah and Beth were still missing? It has almost been seven weeks and they haven't been found."

His eyes widened and then looked down, wondering who could've told her or how she possibly knew. He wondered if she heard it on the news since his sister's faces were plastered all over, especially since they were the daughters of the famous Bob Washington. He tried his best to not let her watch any television. He wanted to keep her in the dark until it was the right time.. "Your doctor didn't want you to hear any heavy news. I was looking out for you."

Marceline stared at him, reading his expression to see if he was lying. Joshua was a good liar but sometimes she could figure out whenever he was deceiving her. She wasn't sure if he was just being good as he naturally was now or actually being genuine, but because he was just as every much a victim in this situation. Joshua had to be the most pitiful one since his baby sisters were missing... She couldn't feel angry at him. In fact, she felt more enraged _for_ him.

His hands then grabbed onto hers, pressing her knuckles to his lips for a quick peck. "I didn't want to keep it from you, but I was supposed to so that you could get better."

Squeezing his hands, she let out a soft sigh. "I get it." Joshua was relieved to hear her say that, "You've been handling this all by yourself and taking care of me. How? How are you even holding yourself together?"

"For one, I have you." His smile made the corner of her lips lift. "Taking care of you has been a great distraction. Hearing you laugh, seeing you get better, and hanging with Sam and Chris has been so... _so_ good for me. School has even been good for me too..." He shook his head, wanting to laugh at that. "As crazy as that sounds."

Seeing her face light up and hearing her chuckle made him keep his smile. "Now, did you eat? I don't want to hear you complaining how nobody fed you in the middle of the night."

"No, I haven't ate yet." He nodded at her answer and made his way in the kitchen. He pulled out pots and ingredients he would have to use. He was very transfixed on what he was doing that Marceline knew she couldn't bother him.

Joshua was a good cook much to her surprise. It almost made her feel a little embarrassed since she couldn't cook. _At all_. If her grandmother knew, she would surely praise him and ask her why she still burned water. Marceline smiled at the thought as she watched Joshua steadily tasting and adding whatever seasoning that instantly came to mind from taste testing. It also saddened her because she could picture Hannah and Beth helping him at the same time. A tear rolled down her face as she pictured Beth yelling at him for adding too much salt while Hannah would try to fix his mistakes and tell Beth to calm down. Marceline placed her hand over her mouth, trying to keep her sad laugh quiet but also forcing herself not to cry.

Letting her teeth sink into her bottom lip, she glanced away from him and stared down at the couch that he helped her on before looking at the tv, searching through Netflix for something to watch and to distract her. She was going to be a crying and shaking mess just from watching Josh cook, and she didn't want him to worry. She hated seeing him fret over her.

"Your grandma tried to teach me this recipe." He said from the kitchen, "I might not do it justice."

Arching a brow, she looked over at him. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I'll love anything you make."

"You say that now…" Shaking her head, she tilted her head as he gave her a quick smile before paying attention to the food. "Jess said she was going to make a cake. I know you've been wanting something sweet lately." Her hands tightened their grip on the remote, her jaw setting at the mention of Jessica's name.

Jessica was the one who created this whole prank. She was so-called looking out for Emily because they knew Hannah liked Michael. They wanted to teach her to "lay off" him, realize that he was Emily's man. Hearing her name was enough to make her annoyed, pissed, but she tried to make herself sound happy, for _him_. _Only_ for him. "Oh? That's _sweet_ … of her."

Joshua hadn't noticed the hardness in her tone, which relieved her. She then watched him walk over towards the table and putting plate of food down. He had already set it up and she tried her best to help but he kept telling her he could do everything and got a glare from not letting her help lessen the workload around here.

He had helped her back into her chair and pushed her back to the table, they got into a squabble as she lifted herself into a seat at the table and hmph triumphantly. With a roll of his eyes, he smiled at as he sat down and then glanced at her to soak in her reaction. She was surprised to see that he made her Linguine with Alfredo sauce and broccoli. For a second, he thought he saw her mouth water. "Gran-Gran told you my Alfredo obsession?"

"Yep." He said as he twirled his fork in the pasta. "I don't know if tastes good."

"Its Alfredo. Alfredo _cannot_ be damaged." Marceline said, "It can make anything taste good." Twirling her fork the same, using the spoon at the ends of it like Joshua only saw fancy people do. He was glad to see the shimmy of her shoulders after the bite. That was the best way to know she liked something. "It's so good! I'm gonna have seconds and probably thirds."

Smirking ,he shook his head as they ate in silence; a comfortable one with the occasional sounds of her humming and dancing in her seat.

After dinner, she forced herself into the kitchen, standing up and helping him with dishes. She would wash them and he would dry them as well as got squirted with water from time to time when he wasn't looking much to her entertainment. Marceline ducked whenever he tried to place his thumb under the faucet to give her the same treatment and left a mess of water on the floor that he didn't mind cleaning up. It felt good for them to go back to how they were. Back to a time where Beth and Hannah were undoubtedly alive and well. There was still a lingering sadness around them, but they were desperately trying to ignore it due to the hope they were clinging onto.

Her arms were around his neck, legs squeezing his waist as he gave her a piggyback up the stairs. They had to take turns showering and brushing their teeth, which made Josh wonder if this was how it was to live with your girlfriend. He couldn't understand his college buddies that argued how messy their girlfriends were but then again, Marceline didn't have all her things here. All she had were clothes and underwear she planned to wear at night and tomorrow, her toothbrush, her own brush, and her vitamins. He didn't know how it was like to have girl products all over the place but he still thought it was comforting to know that you weren't alone.

He hated living by himself at first. He started last year, wanting space and having his own place away from home. He could honestly say he missed his sisters barging into his room whenever they wanted. The way his mom would call him down for dinner and on the occasion seeing his dad at the table, reading his tablet with a cup of coffee. He thought it would be liberating to be on his own. Having no one to pester him whenever he wanted but when he came here or when his friends left, he felt lonely.

Joshua wanted to ask Marceline to move in but he knew it wasn't right. This was a young stage of their relationship and she loved her grandmother to the moon and back. It was selfish to ask her to stay with him but he knew it would be hard taking her back home tomorrow. It was always hard for him to drop her off back home just to go back to an empty place with her scent in the air and all over his pillow. The only ways of communicating with her afterwards would be skype or texting, but it wasn't the same as hearing her laugh or smile in front of him. Hearing her belting out music from the the top of her lungs or watching her body sway perfectly in sync with the music.

When she stayed over, they never slept together. She slept in his head bed while he slept on the couch. Sometimes he wondered how it would feel falling asleep with her next to him but then he would remember back at the cabin, when she was unconscious in his arms and how he refused to let her go. He kept thinking she was dying or already was, he would keep pressing his ear to her chest to relieve himself. The beat of it was weak at the time, but it was still there. Just the thought of her not being awake in his arms now kind of scared him.

As he opened the door from his bathroom, he saw her sitting on his bed, kicking her feet in the air as she sat the edge of the blue blanketed bed. Her eyes looked up at him, her hand reaching out to him for him to grab. With a smile, he interlocked their hands and sat next to her, letting her rest her head comfortably on his shoulder. "Can you sleep with me?"

The way she asked was so innocent and almost made him afraid because his thoughts weren't, in fact nowhere near, innocent. It was already difficult seeing her sleeping his shirt, which he wasn't even sure why he found it attractive. Girls wearing oversize clothing that belonged to you just had a way at getting at you. Still, he had to answer her. He had swallowed, hard. "You… sure?" He asked and she had nodded in reply.

Marceline had crawled up the bed, climbing under the cover and rested her head on the right pillow. Joshua took a deep sigh, trying to keep himself together as he did the same. Her arms then wrapped themselves around him, pulling her face into his chest. His arms wound themselves around her as well, letting his hand rub the back of her head in slow, steady strokes.

There was something comforting about Joshua's smell that made Marceline believe that everything was fine. Even when she was afraid that their friendship had gone to the point of no return, his scent on the scarf he gave her had comforted her then. Her arms tightened their hold onto him, her faze nuzzling against his chest as she tried to blink back her tears. How could she honestly hope that things were fine when Hannah and Beth were still missing? It was easy to think the worse than it was to think the good. Her heart wanted her to grieve. It wanted her to cry, for hours, for days, and get it all out of her system but she felt like she was betraying them by just assuming they were dead. They could be alive. They _could_ be.

Joshua's eyes widened when he felt his shirt becoming wet. "Mars, what's wrong?" He asked, knowing very well what was bothering her. He still wanted to ask her in case she wanted to talk. Talking was good. His old therapist taught him that.

"I'm angry." She admitted, "I'm sad. I feel guilty… And I don't know what to do." Her voice was shaky as he pulled away, making her look up at him as his hands pressed the sides of her face. The tears kept spilling, her nose twitching with each sniff. "I'm so angry, Josh. I'm so… _angry_." She gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself together. Marceline hated crying. She could proudly say she hated to cry. It always made her feel weak and to show this vulnerability made her feel even more weak.

His thumbs brushed under her eyes, wiping away her tears with a quick swipe. "I know." He said, knowing how she felt. "You don't want to be but you are. You feel useless, like, there's something you can do but you don't know what it is." Marceline nodded, feeling exactly as he said. He tried to give her a smile despite how hard it was. "You're not alone, you know."

"I know." Her voice was hushed, her throat taut and burning from crying. He didn't know to comfort her. It hurt him that he couldn't stop her tears and hearing her sobs made him feel much more guilty. He had drawn his face near hers, hesitating for a moment, unsure if he should perform the act of kissing her. He felt that he could comfort her through actions than words. Marceline returned to kiss, nearly feeling light headed the instant their lips met. Without thought, she pressed her lips, and her body, closer to him as the kiss lengthened; she didn't want any boundaries. She wanted comfort and she was seeking it through his touch.

He could feel the cushioned plush of her breasts through the shirt she wore, taking deep gasps every now and then between their kisses. If it felt this good with her body meshed up against his with clothes, just how perfect would feel to feel her nude form against his own? He positioned himself on top of her and her legs wrapped around his waist, tightly constricting his hips with her thighs. He felt relieved to know that she was seeking this desperate need of closeness, of comfort from each other.

His lips pried themselves away from hers, latching them in open-mouth kisses on her neck. His hand had slowly slid from under her shirt, his hand finding her breast, bare and without a bra. Her breast had fit perfectly in his hand; the soft, plushy flesh had made him harden even more as he could feel her nipple become harder with each brush of his palm. Her soft moans and sighs felt like music to his ears.

Desperately, he stripped her of her shirt and she had lifted his over his head hurriedly. He captured her lips again, her breasts now pressing harder against his chest. Every curve and indentation were frictioning together now, as they were rubbing and nearly fusing unbearably close.

He suddenly tried to rationalize, thinking that this wasn't right despite how fevered his mind was. He detached his lips from hers, resting his forehead against her own. "We should stop." He wanted her. He had her, right now, in a way he thought would never come due to their pain. Then there was the past surprise from before at how he thought he'd never be with her. Like she said, they hadn't been together for a long time and they haven't went on a decent date as she wanted. The sudden shift in their relationship wasn't supposed to happen like this. He never wanted Marceline to regret it.

Marceline fluttered her eyes open, staring at his closed eyes. She could tell it was taking a lot for him to hold himself back. Her hands had touched each side of his face, "If I wanted you to stop, I would've asked." A smile was on her lips, "I want this. I want you. I _need_ you."

The lust in her voice was enough to snatch him out of this wary stupor he was in. His green eyes slowly looked in her brown ones, seeing reassurance and invitation. "Are you sure?" He asked and he was given a nod in reply. Joshua could remember the days when he would lay awake at night, alone, and imagine kissing her, touching her, and seeing her completely naked. Hundreds of times he had seen this scene play out in his mind, but actually having it was enough to worry him because he wasn't sure if this was just a fantasy anymore. His dreams and fantasies had a habit of slipping through reality, making him see things that weren't there.

The way her eyes gave him a pleading gaze was enough for Joshua to not hold back anymore. He wasn't sure if it was even possible for him to hold back at this point. The way he ravaged her lips was like an intense hellstorm of searing passion that they could only create and make ensnare one another, engulfing the both of them entirely.

Before she would've felt embarrassed to be naked under Josh, and him being naked above her. Marceline was inexperienced and gratefully so because had promised herself to her ex-boyfriend, but seeing how that came to a shitstorm, she was glad she was saved it for Joshua. If he was her first, she could think back of her first time fondly instead of blocking it out like a horrible memory.

It hadn't surprised her to see how well-toned Joshua was either. She could fondly remember times at the beach or that time she walked in on him working out at their High school's gym room with the boys. Nobody had stole her attention like he had, but this time, she would not look away shyly as she had before. Instead she drank in the sight before her, her gaze piercing and appreciate everything that she had saw.

He kissed her, much fiercer this time, but she whimpered since he broke the kiss again. But he did not break away completely from her—just her lips, and they made themselves give attention along her jaw and throat. A soft gasp escaped her as she felt him playfully bite where her neck and shoulder connected, nibbling on the skin, which was enough to make her want to press her thighs together from how unbelievably wet she became. Why was her neck her weakness? He smirked when he realized it too. He had done it again and she had arched upward, her jaw slacked as his tongue swiped over where he had bit her as if he was soothing it.

His mouth ventured down, his tongue moving to her chest but a little after he tasted her collarbone and kissed her throat again. Marceline wasn't fond of his teasing, leaving her keening softly and aching for more. He kissed around the soft mounds that were her breasts, nuzzling his face in between them, which made her face become a bright shade of red. She blushed as her eyes looked down to see the way he was staring at her nipples, and whined once his lips wrapped themselves around one of them.

The way he sucked it was gentle, and he knew she enjoyed it from the way she moaned and how her thighs would brush against his sides as she squirmed beneath him. His hand slowly trailed up her stomach and cupped her other breast, kneading it and loving the feel of how soft and warm it was under his palm and fingers.

If he kept this up, she would probably orgasm. Despite how good it felt, she wanted _all_ of him, but she knew that he wanted to explore her. He wanted to understand every part of her so he could savor all of it in his memory. He kept venturing downward, leaving her breasts and kissing down the smooth plane of her stomach before making his way to her legs. Marceline wanted to clasp them, feeling shy suddenly, but finding the courage to let him do what he wanted. His fingertips ghosted over the skin of her thighs, making her shiver as they parted from his coaxing touches.

His eyes were steadily staring at her most intimate area. Her inner parts were swollen and wet, showing him how aroused she was. Joshua felt a tremendous boost to his ego at the sight of her so moist. A satisfied smirk displayed itself on his lips as he gently stroked her with his finger, pressing soft kisses on her inner thighs. His tongue glided across her swollen flesh, humming playfully as her fingers raked through his hair. The vibration of his hum made her quiver. Joshua enjoyed how Marceline drew his face in closer, and so with each moan that left her lips, he increased the intensity of his tongue. He let the pink muscle flicker swiftly while opening his mouth wider to have her honey-slicked core into his mouth.

His fingers gripped onto her ass, firmly squeezing the round flesh as he let his tongue slip into her moist cave; savoring the taste of her on his tongue. Her grip on his hair loosened and tightened repeatedly, wanting to pull him up to kiss him. With her unbearably wet slit in his mouth, she found it hard to control her lamenting moans. Her eyes were hooded, her bottom lip between her teeth as she began to chew it. His tongue was steadily lapping inside her, feeling her walls coil around his oral muscle.

After growing annoyed with his teasing, she didn't allow his tongue to linger inside her before she neared the edge. She pulled at his hair, forcing him to bring his face towards her own. Her eyes lingered towards his mouth as she freed his hair and let her hands cradle his face. There was a not a moment more of hesitancy as her mouth eagerly met his, turning her head to the other side while forcibly parting his lips to insert her tongue, running her tongue along his.

He liked her aggressiveness, it made his member throb and pre-cum ooze from the slit. The sense of gentleness of her hands cradling his face made his stomach tighten in a knot, especially when they locked lips. Her tongue swirled around his in a playful dance that he was persistent on not losing. His hands rested at her waist, becoming enthralled with her twice as much as ever was before with her. His lust for her heightening to a new high he didn't even think was possible. Annoyed, he realized they didn't have a condom on and searched in the drawer next to him if he had one.

Relieved, he had one and was ready to rip it apart, but the look on her face was warning him to not be savage. As soon as it was free of the packet, he had slid it on and she watched with hungry eyes. He was glad when he could finally return to her and brushed the tip of his hardened length between her wet folds, slowly inching himself inside of her. He moaned into her mouth as her tightness made his cock throb wildly as her maidenhood slowly loosened to fit his girth.

Joshua couldn't wait nor stop himself, he started to immediately thrust inside her; too indulged in the sensation that was he unable to control nor want to while gyrating inside of her. Her hands slid down his face and rested on his shoulders, sinking her fingers in and allowing her nails to graze against his skin. Due to how hot and slippery it was, she didn't even feel the slightest bit of pain. Her legs were wrapped around his waist again as if to tell him he wasn't allowed to leave her.

Him being inside her felt amazing.

Her panting and cries of ecstasy was muffled against his mouth, her face flushed as her body was filled and pumping with exhilaration. Her arms then wrapped themselves around his neck, pressing him so close that his chest was crushing down on her breasts. Experimentally, she tried to focus on his movements and tried to mimic them, letting her hips meet his as she tried to catch on to his rhythm.

The tight fit of her caused his body to arch to secure a comfortable fit deep inside as he continued his pace, carving the inside of vaginal walls that coiled tightly around his shaft. He was surprised when she motioned her hips to be in sync with his rhythm. Prying their lips apart, he pressed his lips against her ear. "You know, you can scream as loud as you want to." His voice was dangerously velvety smooth, his hands gripping her backside tightly as he continued to thrust deeply inside of her.

Marceline hated how around his words made her more aroused and how her quickly body responded. Her moans increased in volume, especially when his cock pounded relentlessly on the bottom of her womb. With each thrust, her back arched further and her walls diligently clung onto him in efforts to milk him of all he had. Her hardened peaks slid against his sweaty, wet chest only to heightened her pleasure, and kept her expression alight from gratification. "F-Fuck…" A soft, mangled cry escaped her as her hips would move back and forth against him, letting him continuously kiss her womb and clench herself tightly against his member.

Their breaths mingled; a heavy haze clouding her mind as she stared absently at the ceiling. "J-Joshua…" Her muscles were tightening as she was becoming light-headed, knowing that she wouldn't last much longer under his spearing assault.

The way her body connected with his was amazing; it was almost as if the two were perfectly matched for each other. Joshua's breathing hitched as her walls tightened even more around him. Marceline moaned desperately as his pace quickened and became more feral and unending, which only made him go deeper and harder and brought her instantaneously to an orgasm. Her body had frozen abruptly, becoming rigid as her lips halted open in a silent shout. Her body trembled and shook with aftershocks.

A white hot blinding coursed from his shaft throughout his body as he gritted his teeth. Joshua started to thrust frenziedly and relentlessly as he felt her orgasm, his head pounding on to her womb as his lips parted. His breathing increased as he exhaled heavily as he climaxed. It almost felt as if she couldn't get enough air as her legs untangled themselves from around his waist despite feeling weak and shaky.

His body fell tiredly next to her, gathering her in his arms as they were both desperately to fill themselves with air. Her head rested on top of his chest, hearing his heart beating so erratically. She smiled upon hearing it as her eyes lazily looked into nothingness.

"So…" His voice was soft, and even she dare say innocent. "How was it?" Marceline lifted her head off his chest, quirking a brow as she looked at him. "What? I wanna know." A sexy smirk had crept along his lips.

She had enough strength to reach and grab a pillow, smacking him with it. "You arrogant prick." She chuckled, "It was amazing, okay?" She had let go of the pillow, watching him move the pillow from his face.

He was satisfied by her answer. He gave her a smile and tenderly stroked her shoulder, her eyes showing contentment and he was happy to see it. "Y'know," she listened to him, "I don't think I've had enough yet."

"W-What?!" She was definitely sure she could handle another round. "Josh, please." She whimpered as he rolled on top of her, placing firm yet sweet kisses along her throat. "You s-stupid jerk!"

 **:::**

Joshua was relentless.

Marceline had to hide from him, taking refuge in the bathroom by taking a long bath. She was sure that she was beyond the word sore, but she did have the best sleep she ever had in the past few weeks. Marceline enjoyed waking up to see him and having her face peppered with kisses. It was the hungry look in his eyes that made her run. She felt comforted by his touch and realized that it did help her forget about everything, but she would end up feeling guilty whenever the temporary high would end. It couldn't make her escape the grim reality they were living it but at least it did relieve her from it for a little while.

Her mind was racing with scenarios and if she could control herself with this "Welcome Home" party that was being thrown for her. It would be the first time seeing this group of friends of hers since she was awake. There were so many things she wanted to say and so many things that she felt, that she wasn't sure if she could keep her composure. Marceline knew she was going to blow her lid. That much she knew more than anything else. This party would go sour, but she promised herself that she would try her best to keep herself calm for Joshua. He thought it would be good for her to see them. She didn't tell him how angry she was at them. That a good portion of her rage was towards them.

After her bath, she slipped into a purple t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. Joshua's studio apartment was relatively warm but a bit nippy, and so she put on a black cardigan that reached her upper thighs. She didn't worry about shoes since she slipped herself into the grey slippers that Joshua bought for her since she couldn't keep stealing his.

Marceline pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, letting stray hairs frame the sides of her face as she walked out of the bathroom, knowing better than to change in front of Joshua since he couldn't control himself after last night. It was much more difficult to walk than it was before and she was glad her wheelchair was waiting for her outside the door. He would have to bring it downstairs after he helped her down soon. At the moment, he was just putting on his shirt when she left the bathroom, and he smiled when he saw her.

"You really had to lock the bathroom door?" He gave her a teasing grin as he watched her eyes widened.

"You tried to come in?!" Furrowing her brows, she shook her head. "You're a real horndog, you know that?"

Walking over, he kissed the top of her forehead. "When you have a sexy girlfriend, its hard not to be."

"Wow, you have _such_ a way with words, Joshua." She replied rather sarcastically, smiling from the feel of his lips against her forehead. "You'll have to carry me and this chair downstairs."

"You're not going to try and walk down them this time?" He asked but then gave her a grin, "Or that's because you can't after last night?"

Flustered, she smacked his side. "You know exactly why, butthole. C'mon!"

Scooping her up into his arms, she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as he carefully went down the steps. He walked her towards the sofa and gently sat her down. His lips then attacked her own, not relenting in the slightest. Despite how much she fought and claimed how tired she was, she always caved when she felt his lips on hers. Her arms snaked themselves around him as he lowered her down onto the sofa, climbing on top of her.

A sudden knock on the door broke their attention and Marceline gazed up at him. "They'll come back, right?" He asked rather playfully.

"Josh, go open the door." She pushed him off of her as he rolled his eyes. Sighing, he walked towards the door and opened it.

"Cochise, lookin' good." Chris has walked in with a bag in his hand, wearing a light jacket and giving Joshua what he called the 'bro hug'.

"What's up, bro?" He greeted him before setting his blue eyes on Marceline. "Mar, you're looking good." He said as he walked over and she gave him a friendly hug. He rubbed her back, making her smile at the warming comfort she felt from it "I missed you, ya know."

"Thanks Chris." Marceline's eyes crinkled as she smiled, "I missed you too, and your lame jokes. I could hear them while I was asleep."

"Are you saying my awesomeness is what woke you?" Chris then looked at Josh, "Where is my thanks for waking up, Mar?"

Marceline chuckled, shaking her head. "If that was the case, I would've woke up earlier to tell you to shut up."

He hung his head dejectedly, in a playful way, before giving her the small gift bag. "Here ya go. This just a little somethin' to show you how happy I am that you're all good again."

"What is it?" Marceline asked, not looking inside first.

"Oh yeah, you don't like surprises." Chris said, actively remembering the time he got punched in the gut for trying to scare her. "I don't want to say _but_ it's something that'll make you smile. I'll leave it at that."

Confused, and excited, she had reached into the bag and pulled out what looked to be a new wallet but it was a red, chibi Wonder Woman clutch wallet. "Oh my God! Chris, this is fucking adorable!" Nearly tackling him to the ground, she gave him a tight hug. "You remembered I needed a new one."

"I saw you staring at it at that one store, so I remembered when I went by there and got it for you." He explained patting her back. He helped her back on a sofa and stood up. "Better watch out, Josh. From the way Marceline was acting, she can't _resist_ me. I'm just _too_ good." He popped his collar, which made her cringe. "Playa playaaaaa~"

"I'm _sooo_ frightened." Joshua teased as he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

Chris had combed his fingers through his spiked up hair, "I'm glad to see you looking better though, Josh."

Marceline's expression softened at that, her eyes glancing over towards her boyfriend who smiled at his friend's words. "Thanks, bro."

Another knock came from the door, Chris handing Marceline a piece of candy that he had in his coat pocket while Joshua was distracted. She could rely on Chris giving her the good since Joshua slightly monitored what she ate. He tried to cut junky foods from her diet for a while since her iron was at an all time low during the night at the lodge. Samantha had came through the door with Matthew and Ashley following behind. Both Matthew and Ashley looked afraid to look her in her in the eyes as they came in. Matthew immediately hung his head while Ashley tried to shield her face with her hair.

Despite how pissed she wanted to be, she could tell those two were genuine with their apologies. It was hard being frustrated at them anyway when they looked like wounded puppies. Samantha had came rushing over, giving her a tight hug. Marceline had returned it, feeling any resentment she felt towards Sam that night melt away. Samantha, from what Josh explained, was against the prank and regretted not fighting hard enough to stop them from hurting Hannah. She was also constantly there for Joshua while she was in her coma. At least she didn't want to do it and she stayed so strongly supportive, and that was more than enough for Marceline.

"You look great." She said, brushing the side of Marceline's head with her hand. Samantha had a way of acting motherly meets supportive big sister. And because Marceline never had any siblings, she assumed that this was how it felt to have one.

"Thanks Sam. I _feel_ great." She nodded and gave her a warm smile, "How are you?"

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me, I haven't been through as much as you have. You're all I'm worried about right now." Marceline held Samantha's hands, giving them a squeeze.

The brunette shook her head at the blonde's words, "Well, _I'm_ worried about _you_. I know you miss Hannah." She kept her voice low so nobody else could hear and intrude in their conversation. "Its hard for you too."

For the first time, she could see Samantha's green eyes express their sadness. Samantha was strong, able to pull herself together quicker than anyone. She was always composed and unafraid, tackling things head on, and just to see that glimpse of sadness and fear in her eyes was enough to make Marceline want to cry. Even heroes need heroes, right?

Sam pulled her into for another tight embrace, and Marceline returned it in kind. It felt good to find comfort in someone who knew how it felt to lose a best friend. And it also felt good to not be mad at someone who was a good friend. Joshua smiled upon the sight of the two before joining back in the conversation with Matt and Chris.

"Here, I got you a gift." Sam said once she pulled away, pulling out a green gift bag.

She dug into the and pulled out what looked to be a picture frame. Her brown eyes became glassy, her lips parted, as she looked at the picture and then back up at Sam. The blonde-haired girl had gingerly rubbed her arm, seeing Marceline fighting back tears all over again.

The picture was of her, Sam, Beth, and Hannah at the beach. Their arms were linked as they were sporting their swimsuits that they all bought at the mall together. Marceline remembered that day like it was yesterday. She remembered how it started to rain right in the middle of them sunbathing on their towels. Beth was super pissed because she had been planning for them to go to the beach for three weeks because each time one of them been too busy to go.

Her arms wrapped themselves around Sam again. "Thank you. Thank you so much, Sam."

Sam returned it again and then linked their arms, changing to topic to something happier. Marceline was grateful for that, and couldn't stop smiling in Sam's presence. Matthew and Ashley were slowly making their way towards her, trying not to piss her off by the slightest step. Ashley pushed Matthew to go first, which he nervously tried to own up to.

Sam looked up at Matt and then at Marceline, trying to decipher how she was going to take this. For the most part, Marceline seemed calm and opened to talking. He slowly sat down on the other side of her. "I know you hate me. You have every reason to after what I did, but I'm glad to see you're awake and okay."

Marceline hated how much she couldn't hate Matt. He apologized over and over while she was asleep and constantly promised her that he was going to own up mistakes. He even spoke about Beth and how he missed her, and how hard it was since they weren't prepping for UCLA together anymore. Matthew recorded the prank for God's sake but he was actually regretful. Her eyes focused on him, hearing him trying to reassure her that he would earn her friendship back the right way. Marceline could always see why Beth liked him. That girl _really_ liked him. As Beth's best friend, and knowing what she would want Marceline to forgive him, and that's why she decided to take that step towards him.

"Matt, calm down." She patted his shoulder. "We're still cool."

He looked so relieved and he let out a long sigh. He looked so relieved and so happy. "You don't know how good it feels to hear you say that."

Smiling, she pulled Matthew into a hug. "It feels good to see you, Matt. And you look like you've gained some muscles." She squeezed his arm when they released from the hug. "Preppin' for joining the Bruins, huh?"

"Hell yeah!" He said excited, sporting that smile she liked seeing him have. "You _have_ to attend my games."

"Definitely." She promised, "I don't know shit about football but I'll definitely support you. I'll also be ready to knockout who ever tackles you!"

Chuckling, he gave her a smile. "I don't doubt that, but please don't."

Ashley had gained some confidence, slowly taking a seat next to met. "Hey Marceline..." Her fingers were fiddling together, her eyes afraid to keep looking at her but trying their best to focus on her. She looked like a rabbit, shaking in her little boots and Marceline found herself adoring how scared she was of her. Did Marceline really seem all that threatening?

"Ash, its just me." Reaching over, she grabbed the redhead's hand. "I'm not gonna bite you."

"I know but you were _so_ angry at me." The words just kept spilling out, "And you had every reason to and then I was so scared you weren't going to wake up and then the whole prank was just so, _so_ stupid! It was the stupidest, literally the most dumbest, thing I have ever done and—"

"Ash." Marceline interrupted her, "Stop." Ashley's lips formed a frown as her eyes looked down at the floor. "I know you're sorry. I'm still pissed, I'm not going to lie." She explained, "But I know you're sorry, and you don't have to keep apologizing. It'll be a while before I forgive anyone, but we're still friends, y'know?"

Ashley looked relieved, her eyes glassy with tears and Marceline pulled her in for a hug. She gave her a few pats before letting go, "Okay, no more tears and stuff, please? It is not making me feel welcomed." Chuckling, Ashley nodded and wiped the corner of her eyes with a quick swipe of her fingers.

The air in the room was calm, for now. Marceline busied herself with catching up with Sam, Matthew and Ashley. Hearing what they were doing was a good distraction from the storm she knew was going to come when the next three people came. She wasn't prepared to see them because she was so scared she was going to immediately lash out. It felt like the right thing to do, honestly. Maybe she just needed to get everything off her chest or else she would bottle it all in. "When your legs get better," Sam said, breaking her out of concentration, "how about we go rock climbing like we promised?"

"Oh," She honestly forgot about all of that. That was even hard to think about after everything that happened, "yeah. Definitely." She nodded as she grabbed onto Sam's hand. The blonde gave it a squeeze, smiling at her. Samantha was so easy to lean on. It came instinctively, "Is it okay if I call you sometimes?"

"Are you really asking me that?" Sam asked, her eyebrow quirked. "We're friends, Marceline. You can call me anytime."

"I know but…" Marceline shook her head rather absently, "I need to know if I'll be too much."

That faraway look in her brown eyes worried Sam. Giving her another tight squeeze, she tried to sound reassuring as possible. "Anytime."

A knock came from the door and Marceline could hear her heart racing. Her eyes looked to their corners as Chris opened the door, "Mike, Em, and Jess!" He greeted them, getting a half a hug from Michael as they all entered the room and Jessica holding a cake in her hands.

Emily looked rather awkward, standing in her grey sweater dress with her arms behind her. She seemed as if she had no idea what to say while Marceline felt like she had millions. Jessica didn't notice the tension, or at least ignored it, and placed the cake on the table before walking towards her. "Nice to see you awake, babe." She tried to sound as happy as ever.

In Marceline's mind, she was just seeing Hannah's terrified face all over again; her scream repeating over and over and over…

It left her feeling numb and she couldn't even force herself to smile. "Thanks Jess." Her voice was low, distant sounding and Jessica immediately took note of it.

Samantha tried to smooth things over while helping her up, she leaned on the blonde for support as they walked over towards the table where the cake was. "Looks pretty snazzy, doesn't it? For Jessica to hate calories, she sure cooks a mean cake."

It was red velvet. Beth's favorite.

Marceline forced herself to look away, feeling like she was being suffocated. Her eyes kept blinking to bat away any tears that threatened to pool in her eyes or fall. It was hard. It was insanely hard to act like she was okay.

"Mar," Michael's voice made her jaw shut tight, "it's good to see you. Really good."

Her eyes met his and she could tell he meant it but all that came across her mind was Hannah's smile that was only meant for him. That dreamy gaze in her eyes and her heart on her lips. The way they shined for him. And he was the one to help put the knife in her heart; his did the most damage than Jessica and Emily's pettiness.

"Yeah…" She replied rather bitterly, "thanks."

Samantha frowned. She always wondered if Marceline had truly got over that night when she basically wanted to tear Michael a new one and she could tell that Marceline was definitely not over it. In her mind, that happened just yesterday, probably. How could she get over it? The wound was still fresh. It was still fresh for all of them but they were pretending as if everything was fine. Like nothing ever happened.

"Babe," Joshua's voice broke her out of her trance, "are you alright? Do you need your chair?" His hands cradled her face very gently, his eyes showing their concern.

Her lips curled up in a halfhearted smile. "I'm alright."

He definitely knew she was lying.

It was written all over her face.

Samantha had then looked at Josh, giving him a look that said to 'take care of her'. He took heed of it and grabbed her hand, letting her lean on him while Samantha tried to smooth things over with Michael and Jessica by distracting them. "If you didn't want to see them then you should've told me." He whispered, leading her near the steps so that they could talk privately.

Marceline looked up at him, "And why are you so okay to see them? Aren't you angry?"

"Of course I am." He answered, "But I'm doing this for _you_."

Did he think she wanted everyone together? She only accepted this because she thought that this would make him and everyone else happy. Marceline, at the moment, could give two fucks about three of the people in this studio apartment. She was halfway getting over her anger for Matthew and Ashley.

"Marce, can I talk to you?" The both of them had looked at Emily, "Just for a second."

Joshua glanced back at his girlfriend who gave a him a nod for him to go so they could talk. He gave a squeeze to her shoulder and looked back, worried.

"I'm a bitch, I know—" Emily began to say.

"That's not even the half of it." Marceline cut in. "Continue."

Furrowing her brows, slightly agitated, Emily sighed and continued. "It was _just_ a prank, Marce. Nobody knew how badly Hannah was going to react to it. It was just to get her to stop pining over Mike. How would you feel if someone was giving Josh the googly eyes? Not happy, I bet!"

"There were a million ways you could've done it _without_ using her feelings, Emily." Her retort was sharp, "How would you feel if a guy you liked since the 6th grade wanted to talk to you, alone, and this what was you thought was the greatest chance you were ever going to get to with be with him?" Her voice rose, capturing everyone's attention. Michael and Jessica had gazed them, guilty. "How would you feel if all of us were hiding, one of us recording it, just to see the reaction that he doesn't even fuckin' like you, Emily? How the _fuck_ would you feel then?!"

Shaking her head, she rubbed her temples more so out of disbelief than anger. "I just don't fucking get how all of you think it is okay to play with someone's feelings?" She asked, "Like, how the fuck do you think Hannah was just going to laugh it off? How was she supposed to react? Like, "Haha, thanks for embarrassing me in front of the boy I fucking love. Good one guys! Rewind that shot of hurt on my face over again for laughs!" Hannah just didn't just like Mike, she was in _love_ with him."

Michael's eyes lowered to the floor as Marceline continued on. "So, yeah, maybe Hannah should've gave up. She should've been mindful that Mike was with you. I totally understand that! She should've gave up a _long_ fuckin' time ago if you ask me. Ain't nothing goddamn special about Mike, it's not like his dick _or_ his heart is made of fuckin' gold."

Chris snorted, looking away to try not to laugh. "It may have been _just_ a prank but you would tear someone's throat out if they did that to _you_. Hannah isn't like that! Hannah is very, _very_ vulnerable and _easily_ hurt. We _all_ knew this. We all knew _how_ sensitive she is. Hannah is so sweet. So, so sweet. She…" Bawling up her fists, she took a deep breath, "she did not deserve to be humiliated like that! And now look, she's gone. Missing. Beth too. Both of them are missing! They're somewhere on at that mountain, in the fucking cold, and we have no idea how they are or where they're at!"

Sniffing, she wiped any hot tear that managed to slip out of her eye. "And every single day, I have to live with the fact that I couldn't save them. I couldn't save them!" Joshua had ran over, trying to calm her in an embrace but she shook her head and pushed him away. "You think I want to sit here and party and eat fucking cake?! My best friend is missing! My Bethy-boo, my Hannie, are gone and nobody knows where hell they are! Joshua doesn't have his fucking sisters because his friends did the dumbest, shittiest prank!"

"You know who is not celebrating coming home?! The ones who _should_ be home! Hannah and Beth! They're not eating fucking cake, and why is that?! Because of a fucking prank!"

Panting, she shook her head. She was definitely feeling lightheaded and Samantha grabbed her arm as soon as she began to feel woozy. Resting her face in her palm, she shook her head. "I'm alright, Sam. I just can't deal with this. I can't do this. I _can't_ …"

"I know, I know." She cooed, rubbing her back. "Guys, I think the party is over. Jess, you should probably take the cake with you even though it looks great."

The apartment slowly emptied save for Samantha, Chris, and Joshua. Chris had told Ashley and Matthew to go home even though Marceline had said she forgiven them but just in case her anger got the best of her. Marceline had wrapped her arms around Sam, burying her face in her shoulder and let out a good, much needed wail.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** All these references in this chapter. This is the longest chapter yet. Phew!

I like how this chapter goes from "whoa" to "awe fluff" to "angsty fluff" to "hot damn" to "oh, shit's going down."

I was half tempted to make her shove a cake in someone's face. Lmao. I don't know who it would've been, but they were going to get a face full.

Every time I'm writing Josh's POV, for the next chapter, I keep thinking about Mr. Robot and I have to keep telling myself that Elliot and Josh are TWO different characters and its freakin' hard. My brain won't stop. They have so many similarities other than Rami, and so it is hard to tell myself that they aren't the same person.

But yes, we're going to get to see his side of things before the one year anniversary. So, you'll get an explanation of his mental process, how Marceline doesn't know his plan, and everything else.


	7. Chapter Seven: Countdown

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** Yes, this chapter is very short but this is Joshua's thoughts and process as the months went on before the anniversary. I don't know why I specifically added times, but I think it is pretty neat to know when and what time he thought some of this.

 **Imaginationcreationer** : I died writing it. I'm glad I made your day because writing that was fun as hell. I was tempted to say "no, let's remove that" but since I removed someone getting face smashed with a cake, I kept that in.

 **Chloe:** Oh yes, sexy time. It was fun to write because I never wrote smut on FF before. I wasn't sure if it would be received well but it was! Yay. Even though Emily didn't technically create the prank, she was still so dismissive about it and that makes me mad. I know she's the type of person that doesn't like being held responsible for situations, just like Jessica and Mike don't like being held responsible for the prank by calling Hannah dumb for running away. So yeah, she deserved it and they'll probably be more of that since Marce won't definitely like the way Emily treats Matt, or like their relationship at all. But you're on the right track about that. / shift eyes ) Can't say which one though. Oh yes! Lots of actions is in store.

 **Meangirl8:** Thank you. ; U ; I'm glad you love her, and I know this update is a tease. Forgive me.

* * *

 **February 2, 2014 - 4:25 a.m.**

I didn't want to let go.

It felt like I held onto her for hours as I kept us near the fire. She was cold and limp. I kept thinking she was dead. I've seen a dead body before and they looked just like this. I didn't want her to be dead. I don't want her to die. She can't die. She can't die. She can't die. It's not fair. It's not fair. She shouldn't have been outside. Why did she go outside? For Hannah and Beth. She'd do anything for them. And I didn't do anything for them. Chris made me stay, he said he would go look for my sisters with Mike. Sam and Matt hadn't came back yet, so they were still looking. Ashley keeps crying, Jessica puts warm, wet cloths on Marceline's head, and Emily sits in the corner, waiting for the Park Rangers to come.

She can't die.

Nothing was helping; my jacket, the fire, my body. Nothing was helping. Her lips are still blue and her skin is so pale. Why was she so pale? She's not supposed to be. I can't even tell if she's breathing. Her body won't move.

I'm scared.

I'm scared.

 _I'm scared._

 **February 25, 2014 - 8:19 a.m.**

Marceline hasn't woken up yet.

I can't sleep either. I spend all my nights staring at the ceiling after I'm forced home. All morning, afternoon, and evening I spend sitting by her bed. Her fingers don't twitch, her eyes don't move. All she does is sleep and breathe. Marceline was never this still. You could say she doesn't know what it means. Every day, every minute, she would just sleep and breathe. Sleep and breathe.

What if she never wakes up? It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault—fault. She needed me and I wasn't there. Hannah and Beth needed me and I wasn't there. I got drunk. I got drunk and left them alone. The Rangers still haven't found Hannah or Beth. Mom and and Dad keep going back to the cabin and helping out, even doing their own searches. They told me to stay and watch over her just in case she woke up, but what if she never wakes up? The doctors keeping saying this and that, but she hasn't woken up. If she's fine then why won't she wake up? Why doesn't she move? She never moves. I hate seeing her not move.

I've run out of medicine and I need a refill.

She has to to wake up. It's been five weeks. How can she sleep for so long? Doesn't she miss me? Doesn't she miss our friends? What if she hates me? She'll hate me for not saving her. She'll hate me for not protecting Beth and Hannah. She'll hate me. She has to. She wants to. She will. She'll hate me. She can't hate me. I don't want her to. Hannah and Beth will hate me too.

I hate myself.

Please wake up.

 **March 9, 2014 - 12:00 a.m.**

She doesn't know about my… problems.

I never told her. I think if she knew I was crazy then she would leave; a sane person would leave. I would understand if she did, but I don't want her to leave. No, I want her to stay. She has to stay. I want her to move in but I can never find the time to ask her. I need her here. I need her. Hannah and Beth keep coming back to say those horrible things to me when she's not here. She drives them away. She makes them disappear. I hate wanting them to disappear. I hate wanting them to go away. I want them back. I want them back. I want them… back. What kind of brother wants his sisters to go away? If she knew… If she knew... She'd hate me for making them go away.

 **March 11, 2014 - 2:19 p.m.**

Hannah's much meaner now. One time she tried to hit me, she constantly calls me a horrible brother, and she cries a lot. I can hear her crying at night and the medicine doesn't seem to work anymore.

Hannah's getting stronger.

I think she always resented me when I pushed her that one time when we were kids. I think she always hated me since then. I never meant to push her. I never meant to be angry at her. I thought she would forgive me but maybe she never did.

I am a bad big brother.

I'm a terrible brother.

Hannah and Beth deserve better.

 **March 12, 2014 - 11:16 a.m.**

I almost tried to commit suicide yesterday but mom caught me.

I didn't want to do it, I just... slit my wrist. I didn't even feel the blade against my skin. I felt nothing. She stopped it. She bandaged me up and was crying. I hate seeing her cry. My mom doesn't deserve to cry. She already misses Hannah and Beth so much, I'm really a screw up. How could I do that to her?

I'm a horrible person.

I asked her not to tell Marceline and she promised she won't as long I saw Dr. Hill.

That night, Marceline suggested I go to therapy too, just like Mom.

I slipped and had a nightmare, they found their way to get me even when Marceline was with me that night. She caught me waking up screaming, yelling out their names. She's worried about me. I never wanted her to be worried. She doesn't know. She can't know. She doesn't know that I'm crazy. I can't let her know. Maybe they'll fix me again. They'll fix me enough so she won't know. I'll go see a doctor then she won't worry.

She won't leave.

She _can't_ leave.

 **March 14, 2014 - 10:05 a.m.**

Dr. Hill.

Dr. Hill can save me. He did it before. He'll do it again.

He tells me things I know. Tells me things I want to hear. I want to believe him, but I can't. It's not working this time. He's not helping. I listen to what he says, I try so hard to listen to what he says. All I can think about is when I leave that I'll get to see Marceline. She comes to see me after my session, she's always been supportive in everything I do. She's good. Too good for me.

The medicine is stronger. It makes me feel numb.

I don't see my sisters anymore.

 **March 19, 2014 - 6:30 p.m.**

She's not the same.

Every since that night I lost my sisters, she's changed. She doesn't smile as much as she used to and she cries a lot more. There are days where she completely shuts herself off and I have to come find her, just to see her staring off to a place where I can't go. I don't know where that place she drifts off to or who's there but I'm not there. No, she doesn't see me or she doesn't want to. She's leaving me. I need her to stop leaving me behind.

The smiles on her face don't feel the same. When she smiles, it would make the world stop but now it keeps going. It keeps passing by, and I'm not stuck at a stand still anymore. She can't smile anymore because she misses Hannah and Beth. I'm not enough.

The days used to go by fast but now they move too slow. Sometimes I wish time would just stop or reverse, but it keeps going and it keeps making the hollow feeling in my chest get worse. It makes her feel like she's far away and I can't touch her. Why can't I touch her? Why is she in front of me but she's not there? I must be crazy.

I don't think I've taken my new medicine yet. After the first time, the medicine makes time stop. No, it makes me forget time.

I am crazy.

 **March 23, 2014 - 8:44 p.m.**

I think I love her.

I think I've always had. Maybe even when we first met.

I like touching her. I have to touch her to make sure she's warm. I don't want her to be cold again. Her hands always like to comb through my hair and she likes when I rest my head on her lap. I like knowing and feeling the warmth of her body that I can't seem to get anywhere else. She makes it easier to go sleep. I don't like the dreams I have. I hate my dreams.

She hums more now. She doesn't scream songs like she used to. Her voice is much softer. She's much calmer now. I like the one song she hums and sings, but I also like everything about her.

I love her. I love her. I love her.

But I miss her.

I miss the way we used to play. We had word games and sometimes we would play thumb wars. I always would win, and she used to be mad when she lost. The pout on her face always bring me back to the day I met her. She looked like a kid, she acted like one too. It doesn't make me feel like I need to grow up. I don't want to yet... It wouldn't be fair for Hannah and Beth. They have to grow up too.

 **April 28, 2014 - 12:20 p.m.**

Marceline doesn't need her wheelchair anymore. We can go to all our favorite places again.

We hold hands while we walk, we swing them too. She's starting to smile again. I like the way she smiles. She smiles with her whole face. It was those smiles I missed. I'm glad she's smiling again.

She's back.

 **May 30, 2014 - 4:12 p.m.**

She doesn't talk to Jessica, Michael or Emily anymore. She doesn't even say their names. Chris and Sam sometimes talk about them to tell us how they're doing, but we never say anything. Sam's been good to me and Marceline. She comes to visits with her vegan food. I don't like it but Marceline does, and she smiles when she eats Sam's cookies. They're good. I like them too.

Chris knows that I visit Dr. Hill, and he sometimes drives me to places whenever I take my medication. My medicine doesn't allow me to drive. I act normal in front of him but sometimes I lose it, but he wakes me up. He's good at that. Chris is a good friend. He's my best friend. What would I do without him? I'm a terrible friend though. I need to help him. I owe him. I'll help him.

 **December 17, 2014 - 7:11 p.m.**

Everyone is separating.

We're not friends anymore.

I don't like that.

I don't like it.

I don't like it at all.

What can I do to fix everything? Hannah and Beth wouldn't like this. Hannah and Beth would want us to be friends again. I have to fix things. I have to fix things for them. I have to get everyone together. Everyone always got together for something…

Maybe a prank would do.

That got everyone together before, right? Then they'll know too. They'll know how Hannah and Beth felt. The pain, the humiliation.. They deserve to know. They deserve it. Chris, Sam, and Mars… They don't deserve to be apart of it but I'll make them the heroes. Yes, Chris will save Ashley, Sam and Mars will save everyone. It only makes sense. Think of the views we'd get? How everyone would idolize them, and love them. I don't mind being the villain.

Marceline decided to visit her family in Spain with her grandmother and father for Christmas. She'll be away for a while. I can go back to the lodge and start working on the plan, but before that I got to spend time with her.

We already exchanged gifts.

I bought her a necklace.

It's a necklace of cherry blossoms, I know she likes them. We went to the cherry blossom festival here in Cali and she was happy. So I got her a necklace that looked like one with the chain made to look like twigs. It looks pretty on her, but everything looks pretty on her.

I won't forget the smile she gave me.

Sam helped me buy it, and the proceeds go to Wildlife. Everyone knows how big Sam is about animals.

Marceline bought me a video camera, a state of the art one. She said she was tired of seeing me with my old one.

Marceline is always good to me.

 **January 8, 2015 - 8:01 a.m.**

Dr. Hill doesn't like my plan, but I'm going on with it anyway. He doesn't know how great it'll be. He'll see. He'll see once it's all in motion and for the whole world to see.

I stopped taking my meds because I can't take them while I'm working. I can't handle machinery and I get drowsy when I take them. I'll take them once its over.

Everyone will be together again.

Everything will make sense again.

Hannah and Beth will get vengeance.

 _They'll never know what hit them._


	8. Chapter Eight: It Begins

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** Sorry I took so long, but we're finally here!

* * *

"Are you crazy?!"

Her grandmother was right. She was crazy. Why did she think this was a good idea? Why did Josh consider this a good idea? Why would any one of them want to go back there? It was quite obvious now that Hannah and Beth were dead. A whole year without them being found was good enough proof that they would never been seen again. Marceline started to accept that after six months and finally grieved for them, and let them go. The Park Rangers and the Police just kept coming up empty handed and never found any proof. What was the point to keep holding onto hope if the obvious was clear?

"I want to go, Gran-Gran." Folding up her shirt, she pushed it down in her practically full suitcase. She was bringing a lot of layers since it'll be cold. She wasn't prepared last time of how cold it was but she was this time. If only Airport security would let her bring her pocket knife, but there was no way she could've gotten away with it. "But I want to find out what happened to Hannah and Beth?"

"What?" Aureliana looked flabbergasted, "They went missing, that's what happened. And you got hurt, that also happened. What do you mean finding out what happened to them? If the police can't figure it out then what makes you think you can, Sherlock?!"

Marceline fought not to pout and kept a rather serious expression. Her head slowly looked over her shoulder at her grandmother, "Hannah and Beth were my friends. I know them, and I can figure it out."

Memories were all that were left of Hannah and Beth. They weren't given a funeral, a proper goodbye because everyone kept holding onto hope. But no more of that, Marceline had to know what happened to them. She couldn't sit there and just be satisfied with the fact that they were gone. It didn't matter or not to her that she wouldn't know what she was doing or getting herself into. Her grandmother was right, she wasn't Sherlock Holmes or any kind of detective. She wasn't studying Forensic Science or Criminology or whatever the course needed for this task, so how could she do it? Marceline liked to think that she knew Hannah and Beth well enough that she could put things together and find out what happened. It would put everyone to rest and she wouldn't feel like she failed them. She was doing this for them and Joshua because only God knows how desperately he needs to know.

"No." She shook her head, "I'm not letting you go." Her slipper-covered feet had slid against the floor and she stood in front of the door as if to block Marceline.

Zipping up her suitcase, she placed it on the floor and let the wheels roll rather smoothly against the carpet. "Do you trust me, grandma?"

"Of course I trust you." Aureliana insisted, "But I don't trust you going back to that mountain and launching your own investigation. I'm not even sure why Josh wants to even go back to the place. That poor boy has been through enough. How could he stomach it?"

"Gran-Gran," Sighing, Marceline let go of the suitcase and let both of her hands rest on the small woman's shoulders. "I know what I'm doing, trust me. I have to find out or else I'll never get closure. Every since Josh brought it up, about going back, I've been thinking about this and I know I can do it. Joshua needs closure too, and I'm going to help him get it."

She was given a quick head shake, her grandmother persistently against the idea. "No, I'm not letting you go. You're my only grandchild and I'm not losing you. What happened to your friends is sad, I know, I liked those little girls but I don't want you ending up just like them or like before or even worse."

"But I won't!" Aureliana hated when she saw that fire in her granddaughter's eyes. It was the same look that the girl's mother had whenever she had set her heart on something. It was same stubbornness that made Noémie absent in her daughter's life for all these years in the first place. They were just too headstrong for their own good, in Aureliana's eyes. She used to praise it before but now, she wished Marceline never inherited it. "You always taught me: "A lo hecho, pecho!", right?" She could hear the woman sucking her teeth, a triumphant smirk creating itself on her grandchild's lips. "What does it mean, Gran-Gran? C'mon, tell me. I'm pretty sure I remember it just as you told me."

With a groan, the elderly woman mumbled the words. "In the face of deeds done, present a full chest."

"Mhm," Marceline hummed. "I can't change what I didn't do for Hannah and Beth. What's done is done, but I decided what I want to do for them. And I know, I just might face consequences for deciding this, but I should have the courage; I should see it through. So, Gran-Gran, please let me see it through? I won't ever forgive myself if I don't."

Suddenly, she was pulled in a tight embrace. Marceline smiled at this and gave her grandmother a much needed hug. "You're only eighteen. You're an adult now, and I know I can't stop you but… You're still my little Marcy."

Letting her face bury itself in her grandmother's hair, she took a deep breath. If this was the last time she would see her, she wanted the memory to be happy. She wanted to remember the smell of Wild berries in her grandmother's hair and how warm her hugs were. Her grandmother's attitude was still lovable to Marceline because she knew the woman had such a big heart. She would want this to be her last memory of her. "I always will be and I'll come home, okay?"

"Okay okay," Aureliana sighed, "I believe you."

 **o**

 **Eleven Hours Until Dawn…**

Snow. As if Alberta didn't get enough of it, but what was to be expected in winter? It was hardly over, still stuck in the middle of it, and so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that the sky was still grey and cloudy. The clouds would never end its icy supply. The wind was calmer than usual, which was an eerie relief. She had gotten tired of the way it would hit her face every now and again. At least the cabin wasn't too far away and she could finally sit by a fire once she got there. And she did feel comforted by the fact that Joshua was right beside her, holding her hand since the two of them forgot to buy gloves. At least they were freezing idiots together.

Her scarf, one that she bought a while ago, whipped in the wind that suddenly came as she shielded her eyes. She hated when snow got into eyes even though it was just water. "You sure this is a good idea, Josh?" She asked with her eyes now glancing at him. He didn't seem bothered or flinching. Marceline wanted to figure out how he was feeling through all of this. Joshua had been acting strange for a while, she noted. He wasn't himself but she chalked it up to grieving and Dr. Hill, his therapist, had let him go after fifteen days, which didn't seem like enough time for her.

Joshua looked up from the snow at his feet and gave her a smile, "Why not? We can let Hannah and Beth go. We can't ignore this forever." He was right in a sense. In a way, this would be helping them move on. Even though she believed she did, she hoped that this gathering would ease him.

Her body jolted slightly, feeling and finally noticing that he stopped walking. They stopped their ambling through the crunching snow, for what? She wasn't sure. He slowly turned, his hand letting go of hers as he stood in front of her. He secured the loop of the scarf around her neck, which made her smile as she looked up at him. "Did you bring your medicine?" She asked, a thick fog leaving her mouth due to the chilling temperature.

"Yes, I brought my medicine." She smirked at the irate tone in his voice. He always got annoyed whenever she got on his ass about it, but it was helping him and he needed them. " _Mom_." Joshua mumbled that, which made her frown.

"Hey, that's a compliment!" Huffing, she tilted her head in a rather arrogant angle. "Your mom is pretty _and_ she's a chef that makes amazing food!."

"Okay, _maybe_ I should take that back." He grinned as her eyes widened, " _You_ can't even cook instant ramen."

"I can so!" Honestly, when will he ever let that go? He brought it up every chance he got now. "I just left it in microwave too long that one time."

Shaking his head, he took hold of her hand again so they can continue trudging their way up. "You burnt the noodles."

"They were just well done." Was her excuse.

Deciding he had enough fun picking on her, he ended their playful spat. "If you say so, babe."

Marceline always wondered if this forest had ever been touched by light, or perhaps never seen it due to the massiveness of the trees that were blanketed with snow and the canopies of the rather bare branches. And due to the constant snow, she had a hard time figure out if the sun ever stayed out long enough in the winter here.

"Why didn't you come up with Sam?" He asked, breaking their comfortable silence.

"Why didn't you come up with Chris?" She challenged, her brow arching.

He looked back at her and shrugged, "If we spend too much time together, you'll get jealous."

With a snort, she rolled her eyes. "Are you telling me that you might be in love with Chris? I'll understand if that's the case. You two would be the cutest couple, honestly." She giggled when she was given a glare. "What? You started it."

"I was only teasing." Joshua replied, "But you're serious."

"I really wouldn't be hurt if you decided Chris was the one." Wiping a fake tear, he quirked a brow. "I just want you to be happy, y'know?" Jogging a little bit to keep up with his, she leaned into his side as she kept a tight hold of his hand. "But anyway, Sam will do alright without me for a little while. I think I need to give her some space. To be honest, I think that I've been smothering her for a while."

His eyes looked down at her as she had rather odd look in her eyes. "I think Sam likes you smothering her." He tried to cheer her up, "I think both of you are trying to fill in the gap of… you know."

Her heart sank at that. Hannah and Beth were being reduced to "them" and "you know" so that things wouldn't get sad or too awkward upon hearing or saying their names. But he was right in that sense. Sam and herself were trying their best to fill in the spaces of Hannah and Beth by overfilling it with each other. Sam had been such a great person to rely on since she couldn't let her grief get in the way of Joshua's healing process. "You're right…" She nodded rather slowly.

"Chris has been like that for me. Well, he tries to be." The admission made her smile. She was glad that Chris was supportive and remained a steady constant in Joshua life. Some friends abandoned you in rough times, not because they want to but because they feel unable to help. Chris always acted like things never changed. "He makes me forget for a while, just like you do. I'm glad we have each other and them to make us forget about things."

It did sound like Joshua was acknowledging the harsh truth. It was heartbreaking but she was glad that he was willing to move on. She knew that she couldn't tell him about her wanting to look for the truth of what happened to his sister. Marceline would have to do it by herself, she couldn't let Joshua be dragged into it. If he was ready to put the past behind him then what would she look like digging it back up and hurting him? Who knows what she would find out. Marceline was scared herself about what she might find out about them.

"Things are going to be super fucking awkward." Marceline shook her head, suddenly remembering that Michael, Emily, and Jessica were coming on the trip as well. And boy, did she think of the tension that would be inexplicably there once they were all together again. Still, she had to remember that she was on the road of recovery as far as her relationships with them were concerned.

Jessica did try to reach out around the New Years'. She went on this rant about "New Year, New Me" and wanted to fix all the things her old self had said and done. Marceline didn't really believe in that. Every time someone said they wanted to start fresh, they ended up fucking themselves over around the third month. Just like gyms were practically crowded for a good four months and then people said "fuck it" about their weight loss and exercising. Marceline had been guilty of that herself before and that's why her New Years was just centered around focusing on her studies and having a happy year with Josh. Of course, she couldn't hate Jessica forever despite what her pride and petty hurt was telling her to do. So they talked, and Marceline was much glad to hear stories about Jessica's adorable little sister; Krystal.

Michael? She ignored him for the longest time. Marceline would never reply to his messages and blocked his number completely from her phone. The worst part was that he showed up to her house that one time in the middle of January and made a whole big deal about not leaving until they talked, which resorted to her grandmother getting involved and whacking him with a broom because she thought he was a stalker. Once that whole misunderstanding cleared up, Aureliana made her talk to him and they sat on the porch in front of her house. Marceline can't say they've been buddy-buddy but she could say she felt sorry for blaming everything on him. Even though he had some fault in it for okaying the plan and not rejecting Hannah, he wasn't entirely at fault that Hannah couldn't get a grip on the reality. So they became cordial. He even told her about his and Emily's final breakup that happened around the middle of last year, which didn't put her at ease or make her care for that matter.

Emily, well, Marceline had not heard not a single word from her. The only thing she even knew about Emily was that she was currently dating Matthew and Marceline was infuriated when Matthew told her. Of course, it was neither of their fault why she was angry. It was because Beth had liked him and Marceline always hoped they be together, but Beth wasn't coming back. Beth was gone. So what was the point in Matthew staying single? He was good looking and sweet. All the girls liked him, especially since it was destined that he would join the NFL with the way the Bruins had been dominating with him as their Star Quarterback. He had to move on, but to move on with Emily, who was just with Michael not too long ago? Marceline didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

Matthew, in her eyes, just liked how Emily because she was his first; his first in a lot of things. The girl had him whipped and made him even more spineless since he was never really the aggressive type. Emily was popular and extremely persuasive when it came to boys. She knew what to say and do for her to get her way, that was obvious when she was with Michael since the group seen that for themselves for years now. Marceline would cringe at Emily's calls and be half tempted to hang up on her for him, to make sure Matthew never spoke to her again but she couldn't do it. This was Matthew's choice and she had to accept it, no matter how much it angered her that Emily thought she could say or do whatever she wanted to him. Maybe she was different when they were together but Marceline hadn't like any of it from the glimpse she saw.

Now she would be seeing Emily, linked to Matthew no less. All the people she still felt somewhat uncomfortable around was going to be with her during this short trip, which made her glad that she wasn't using this time as a memorable vacation but an investigation instead.

"We should patch things up, Kayako." Joshua said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "You can't hate them forever. It's not good for you, y'know? Dr. Hill taught me that."

Her eyes squinted, giving him a slight glare. Not only did he call her the name of the woman from The Grudge, but she hated when he brought up things he learned from his therapist to lecture her. It always made her feel immature and childish despite the fact she knew that he was only teasing but also helping. "Did Dr. Hill teach you to be a meanie too?"

"No," With his signature grin, he said it rather matter-of-factly, "but you did."

"Ha _ha_." Was her dry laugh as he dug into his pockets for the key to the door of the cable car station. "Wait, why is this locked?" She questioned, pointing at the door as he turned the key.

Not a moment of hesitation was given as he gave her a reply, "To keep people out."

"What people?" Marceline asked, genuinely curious. "Were people coming up here?"

He nodded, "Homeless people from Blackwood County would come here to sleep and then reporters tried just, y'know, come up here and take pictures of police, even trying to take pictures of my mom and dad. You know how it is with them," He shrugged, looking tired as he looked blankly ahead, "anything for sales and publicity."

Accepting his answer, she gave a slight nod. "Oh, I see. That's reporters for you, huh. They have to get the details no matter how much their invading a hurting family."

"It's their job." Joshua said rather emphatically, "You wanted to be one before, remember?"

"Yeah, but I lost interest after seeing that reporter shove his mic in that grieving mother's face. Now _that_ was disgusting." She closed her eyes and shook her head, remembering seeing it first hand back in L.A. Cameras were practically making their own living in that city.

Feeling his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her into his side. "Well, you'll have to get used to cameras."

"I know." She pursed her lips, "Being an actress is already tiring enough." Just the thought of that alone made her exhausted, "And _then_ being the girlfriend of a future director? When will camera's _not_ be in my face?"

"You know what's a good way to get used to a camera?" Her eyes missed that sly smirk on his face, she was too busy looking out in distance at the snowy mountains as she waited for the cable car to come.

Without looking back, she asked. "What?"

Coming up from behind her, he nestled his face into her neck. "Making our _own_ movies, with us staring them, of course."

It took her a few minutes to get the gist of what he was implying. Once she got it, her face suddenly felt warm and she squirmed in his grasp. "You're nasty, you know that?!"

"But I'm _your_ nasty." His nose scrunched up playfully as she kept wriggling around.

"That doesn't even make a sense!" Joshua laughed as she finally was able to turn herself to face him. She was genuinely annoyed, he could see it, but also saw the twitch of the corner of her lips as she fought not to smile.

"I want to ask you something…" The tone in his voice startled her, her eyes big and staring as she waited for what he had to say.

"What… What is it?" Unsure which direction this conversation could go, she tried to wait patiently for whatever he had to say.

His brow straightened, bunching up above the bridge of his nose. This was serious, she noted. "Tell me you won't go running off like last time?"

Her heart dropped, her eyes lowering to absently look down at her feet. How could she make a promise like that when she was going to do a full-on investigation of what happened to Hannah and Beth? It would mean leaving the lodge, which would already be difficult with so many people there and to get away from Josh enough so it didn't seem suspicious. There was already so much she would have to do without worrying him. Clearing her throat, she tried to seem generally confused. "Why would I?"

"No matter what happens…" He kept his serious expression, "Don't."

"Why would anything happen? I mean, we _learned_ from our mistakes from last year, didn't we?" The way she said it was rather wistful, his expression shifted to a stony one.

"Right…" He left it at that as the cable car arrived. Without lingering around, they hopped in as she rubbed her hands together, basking in the little bit of warmth that the enclosed space had. His arms pulled her into him and laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

 _"Marce is such a chicken!"_

The Beth's voice rung in her heard, as she knew it would. The last time she was in this very cable car was with Beth and Hannah, she could even see them sitting across from her and gazing at her. Beth's eyes looking at her with playfulness while Hannah gazed at her with a mixture of shock and excitement.

 _"I would've never thought you were scared of heights."_

The disbelief on Hannah's face had made her smile then. They always thought she was so fearless, and she had done her best to put on that front. She was chicken-shit when it came to heights. That fear now felt silly and numbing since the worst fear in her eyes was losing someone else she cared about it all over again. Heights could be conquered, but that? That couldn't.

 _"How are you going to be afraid of heights when we're here? We won't let anything happen to you, I promise."_

Her hands wanted to ball up into fists as her eyes were about prickle with tears. Just when she thought it was over—her grief and tears for them—it all came washing back to the shore now that she was going to the last place she had seen them.

"You remember that one time when we looked up at that stars?" Josh's voice broke her out of her trip down memory lane ( just to enter her in another one). She forced her eyes open and looked up at him as he stared out the large window from the other side of the cable car.

Marceline squinted her eyes, looking around in thought as she tried to remember. "Oh! You mean when I kidnapped you?" She joked as she shifted her focus back to him, smiling at the upward curl of his lips. "I also promised you that I'd be there when you needed me. I've kept promise _pretty_ well, haven't I?"

His green eyes looked to hers as his head move in a slow but assuring, "You have." Josh answered, "That's _only_ because you pinky promised though. You break your other promises really easily."

Frowning as he began to laugh at the sudden shift of expressions, she elbowed his side and found herself able to smile again at the sound of a hiss. "That's because they are sacred."

"What's so sacred about them?" Joshua asked, "What makes them better than other promises? A promise is a promise."

That never really came across her mind. Why was a pinky promise more sacred than just a regular promise? It was something that was ingrained in your head in as kid that they were the promises of all promises. Not recalling the actual history of it, she simply shrugged."Because it's a seal, I guess. It shows how much you mean it." Looking up at him, she observed the look of thought on his face as she continued on. "Other promises just can be said without any truth in it, but if I take the time to seal it then doesn't it mean _something_?" Feeling satisfied with her answer, she then gave him a smile. "And because I took Dragon Ball Z seriously as a kid."

"What?" Surprised, his eyes widened as he looked at her. "You watched Dragon Ball Z?"

With a arrogant huff, she wiggled her pinky in front of his face. "Fire, water, earth, air! I declare a pinky-swear!"

"That's messed up!" Marceline had to hold in her laugh since he was actually upset. He was pouting, like a kid, and sighing with his eyes looking out the window. "You should've said that back then and then we would've had an oath; an awesome one at that."

"Oh well, can't change the past."

 **o**

It surprised her when she had saw that both Ashley and Matt were already at the lodge. They had met up with Sam and Chris halfway through. Despite Marceline not wanting to be clingy with Sam, she couldn't help but latch onto her when she first saw her. Sam welcomed in, just as much Josh said she would, and they linked think their arms as they were trudging through the snow right behind the boys. Every few minutes, Marceline rubbed her hands together as they walked, both her and Sam were practically freezing while Josh seemed unfazed by the bitterly cold weather. Figures. He was used to this cold but she could never find herself growing used to it. She missed L.A.'s sun really badly right now.

Her eyes softened upon the sight of Matthew but then a frown took place instead of a smile because it was obvious that something was bothering him. He looked angry, and just a little sad. Then she noticed Emily wasn't with them, and so who else could make him feel like that?

"Hey guys," Joshua greeted them, "get up here okay?."

Ashley was the only one receptive and smiling for that matter. "Yeah, well… More or less. But it's so good to see you!"

Meanwhile Matthew, well, arms crossed and eyes burning holes in the ground? He just was surrounded by negative energy. Josh looked to Chris, sharing a look. 'Sup with him?" He asked, but Chris was just as bit as lost as he was.

Marceline leaned in close to Sam, her eyes focused on Matthew. "You don't have idea why Matt looks like that, do you?"

" _No_ idea." Sam answered, just as bit as worried as Marceline was. "You wanna go talk to him?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back." Unlinking her arm from Sam's, who decided to stay behind while Chris and Josh went up the stairs to the Lodge door, Marceline decided to talk to Matthew or at least cheer him up if he didn't want to talk about what was bothering him.

Straightening her brows, she sighed as she was making her way over because Ashley looked up at her, looking quite vulnerable herself. Just what the hell happened? Maybe she could find out what happened with Matthew through Ashley first. The last thing she would've ever thought was that these two were upset with each other. "You alright?" Marceline asked her, watching the red-haired girl's eyes slowly look at her with uneasiness.

"Y-Yeah, of course I'm alright!" She was lying, it was obvious, but Marceline wouldn't pry; sometimes it was just best to mind your business and do nothing. Not only that her and Ashley were never that close where they felt comfortable talking about _everything_ together. "Just cold, you know."

Rubbing her own arms to warm herself up, she looked up at the night sky. "Yeah, it is freezing up here. I don't know how Josh does it to be honest." Her eyes glanced at him from over her shoulder, Ashley did too upon the mention of him.

"He was practically raised up here." She gave Marceline a smile as she watched the brunette take a seat on the steps next to her. "Of course this weather is nothing to him." Ashley then nudged the girl's side, "But how are you?"

"I'm alright." Marceline replied, "Just feelin' a little bit…" Her eyes slowly look every bit of downcast.

"Weird?" Ashley finished her sentence. Marceline gave her a nod, "I feel the same. I'm just, you know, trying not to drown out the whole group with it but it feels _very_ weird."

"Which is sad, right?" Her brown eyes stared at Josh as he was steadily talking to Chris about God knows what. "Last year we were so excited and had fun. Who would've knew everything would just…" Gazing back down at the snow, she shook her head, "go to the left." The silence between them was an understanding one, and she was grateful Ashley let her bask in it. It gave her enough time to gather herself instead of just rewinding last years events ( that she could remember ) in her head. "Matthew sure looks pissed though. What's got his boxers in a bunch?"

With wide eyes, Ashley gave a nervous smile. "Uh, you should go ask him! I mean, he'll open up to you."

Squinting skeptically, Marceline soon got to her feet and walked over the the upset jock. "Matt, what's up with you?"

At first it seemed as if he was too busy lost in his thoughts, but he finally turned to look at her. "Nothin', just…"

"Just…?" Pressing on, she tilted her head so that their eyes were forced to meet. "C'mon, Matt, talk to dirty to me."

It made him laugh, which she wanted. It felt good to hear it and she smiled when he finally looked her in the eyes on his own free will, "It's just Em and how she is."

"You mean a self-centered, spoiled, controlling, entitled, possessive, snarky, conniving, irresponsible—" Before she could continue or end her list with something that rhymed with witch, Matthew interrupted.

"She's not all of—" The look on Marceline's face was deadpanned as if she dared him to lie. "Okay, she is, _but_ I still care about her, y'know?" Thank God they weren't at the stage of love. She would've threw up if he said it.

With a sigh, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. "I know you care about her. I don't know _why_ necessarily, but I know you do…" Her curiosity just couldn't stop there. She wished it did, but she couldn't control herself. "What did she do?"

He seemed hesitant, like he didn't want to tell. Of course, she figured that whatever it was would make her want to encourage him to break up with her. "Wow, just take your _time_." She said sarcastically.

"I saw her—"

Because she was so focused on what Matthew was saying, she didn't even hear the incoming sound of feet crunching the snow beneath them. She hadn't felt his presence inching closing in on her until he said her name, "Mars!" Her heart felt like it stopped for a minute as she practically jumped out of her snow boots from how unprepared and startled she was. Taking a deep breath, her hand rested on her chest as she she shook her head. Relief and frustration came out of her exhale, as her boyfriend apologized. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." It sounded genuine, for the most part, and it made her a little less angry. "Me and Chris are gonna go around and break in. The lock is in the freeze zone."

Confused, and unsure, she rose a brow as she turned to face him. "Break in?" She repeated his words, "How is it breaking in if you own the place?"

"…Wow, what are you? Telepathically linked to Chris?" He playfully questioned, leaning in as he whispered in her ear. "Did you probe him?" Rolling her eyes, her arms were akimbo. "I won't tell Ash if you did."

Trying to be un-amused, she shook her head. "Go and open the door, please?" She then pointed behind him, at Chris, who was waiting for him. "Your boyfriend is waiting for you~" Smirking at the slight glare she was given, her eyes crinkled as she felt his lips pressed against her forehead for a quick peck. She was always sad to feel the warm that radiated off him go away. Her eyes followed him until he became less and less visible and then out of her sight before she turned to look back at Matthew. "Now what were you saying, Matt?"

Matthew, lost in thought, then pulled himself to reality and shook his head. "Nothing. How is everything with you and Josh, by the way?"

Not sure why he changed the topic, she decided not to question it. Her fingers combed through her hair in thought, "We're doing alright." She admitted with a slow nod, "It has been a really, really rough year but I think we're finally healing."

"I'm glad." Hearing how relieved Matthew was made her smile. "Everyone has been worried about the both of you, even Em."

The smile on her face faltered and her eyes looked down at the ground. To be honest, she didn't know whether he was trying to make Marceline ease up on Emily or if he was actually telling the truth. Matthew wasn't a liar, she knew that, but he looked out for Emily more than he should have in her opinion. "I have a hard time believing that." She mumbled, but he heard her loud and clear. "I haven't seen or even spoken to her for an entire year, Matt. I don't think she's worried too much."

"She's scared you're gonna rip her head off, that's why." He defended his girlfriend with reason and because everyone felt that way. "I mean, every since that party it just made it hard for her to think you can ever come around to being friends with her again." Marceline couldn't help but understand that. That party wasn't exactly her fondest memory of when the group was last together. "Emily not only lost you, Marce, but she lost Jess too."

That hit her. Hard. Marceline blinked twice in shock, her eyes immediately looking up at Matthew's in disbelief. Since when did this happen? "Emily and Jessica aren't friends anymore?"

"No way!" He made an "x" with his arms to imply how bad it was and then let them limply fall at his sides. "I'm actually worried about what's going to happen when they see each other." She couldn't help it. Marceline felt her heart ache at that fact. Those two were close, super close. You'd think they would've been stuck together like glue over the loss of Hannah and Beth, over their part in the prank but it tore them apart? Why? That hadn't made sense. Then again, when was the last thing everything made sense?

"Wow…" She whistled, still in disbelief over the news. "That's the last thing I ever would've expected." Now it felt like the end of the world: Hannah and Beth were gone, Jessica and Emily weren't friends anymore, Matthew and Emily were dating… What else was new? What else did she have to soak in that this was the new reality for them? Honestly, could she handle anymore shocking news? She doubted it. She really doubted it.

He simply shrugged, not knowing what else he could say that could dumb down the shock. She had a feeling that there was more that he knew but she didn't want to question him. He already told her that and so she would settle for it; however, she was sure that she would find out what made Jessica and Emily stop being friends soon enough. Both of them had such headstrong and, well, it was hard to put it into words but she knew that if Matthew was afraid of them being together then things were going to go from 0 to 100 real quick. And the last thing she needed was for them to actually fighting.

Making her way up the lodge stairs, she stood in between Ashley and Sam as they waited for Chris to open the door. Marceline could feel the chill settling in her skin, and her body shaking with shivers. She desperately wanted warmth, preferably by a fire or maybe she could be clingy and cuddle Josh until Chris open sesame'd this thing "We're freezing our buns off!" Ashley sounded more than annoyed, but she couldn't blame her. It was freezing out here.

"My buns are pretty okay," Marceline shrugged, trying to add a sense of lightness. "Although they would love to be toasty right about now."

Sam chuckled, "I just want a bath; a nice, warm bath." A dreamy sigh escaped her as they could see Chris through the window of the door. Marceline squinted when she saw what looked to be canned deodorant in his hand and a lighter.

"Don't tell me he's gonna…" She was about to question, looking to Sam.

"Oh, he's gonna." She confirmed it, and just like that Chris made a miniature flamethrower with the lighter and spray deodorant. A brief flash of a stream of fire played in her head, remembering the last time she seen something like that. Her head slowly turned, looking over her shoulder at the distance as she wondered if she could finally find out who was that man with the flamethrower. Was he still here?

Her thoughts stopped once she heard the door. She quickly turned around to see Chris in his ever so usual silly mood. "Thank you, thank you thank you. I'll be here all week-" Chris bowed, making Marceline snort. He acted as if he performed a magic trick. "Yah!" A blur of black zoomed past them, Marceline jumped as she watched it run off into to God knows where. Her eyes narrowed as Ashley and Sam's laughed at Chris' expense. "Jeez. Crap that thing freaked me out."

"What was it?" Ashley asked, still finding Chris' scream humorous. "Are you okay?"

"It was like a bear or a tiger or something—"

Shaking her head, she turned to face them and arched a brow. "That was hardly any of those, Chris. You're so dramatic sometimes."

"Aw it was just a cute, little baby wolverine." Sam put on her baby voice, teasing Chris as Joshua jogged up the stairs.

Marceline had to agree with Chris on this one. That thing was hardly a baby. "Baby?" Chris questioned, eyes narrowing at Sam with disbelief.

"Don't worry buddy, you're going to be a big boy soon." Marceline wanted to come to Chris' rescue but she found herself chuckling at Joshua's words as they walked in. "Home sweet home!" How come she couldn't feel as happy as Joshua did? Her heart felt like it was twisting in a knot as soon she walked in, and her legs felt shaky and hesitant. It was like her body was rejecting the place.

"Sweet is not the word I'd use." Matthew took the words straight out of her mouth, and she slowly looked at him as he placed what looked to both his and Emily's bags down.

As soon as she had walked into this place, a wave of nostalgia hit her. It felt like it was consuming her and made the twisting her heart even more painful, but she kept her face impassive. As usual, she masked her pain. She didn't want everyone to worry even though she could tell that they were all looking at her, wondering her reaction. She remained stoic and quiet for them, and for herself.

"Oh my gosh, it's so good to be inside. Even if it's still kinda freezing in here." Ashley said, quite relieved to be inside.

She was right though, it was freezing in here. Yet the cold felt different than how it felt inside, this was a different kind. The kind that chilled you too the bones and made you feel wary. Kind of like a ghost feel. Her hands continuously rubbed her arms, trying to warm herself still as her eyes following Josh. "I'll get a fire going."

"This place barely looks any different." Matthew looked around, observing the place before standing next to Marceline. He gazed down at her, watching her look absently into space.

"Yeah, nobody's been up here." He could see her jaw setting as Josh informed them of that and softened his gaze as she looked down at the floor, rubbing her arms still and more quickly this time.

"Even with all the police coming in and out?" Ashley questioned.

Chris then said, "Not a lot of action here lately."

"Nope." Josh confirmed.

None of this was taking her mind off Hannah and Beth, it only strengthen her resolve. Finally noticing that a pair of eyes were on her, she looked up to see Matthew's thoughtful expression and gave him a reassuring smile.

"What's up party people?" She wanted to grimace but she kept a straight face. Her body slowly turned to her brown eyes see an excited Michael Munroe waltz right in, but her eyes soon found themselves stuck on the the person behind him. It was Jessica, swaying her hips ever so suggestively. At first, she squinted but then her eyes nearly bulged out of her sockets. Immediately, she looked up at Matthew, confirming if what she was thinking was true. He gave her a slow nod and Marceline's mouth gaped in shock.

"What the fuck…?" She whispered, wondering why in seven hells were Michael and Jessica together. Together? Oh yeah, this was definitely in the end of the world right here. This just had to be an alternate universe of some sort.

"Heeey!" Jessica waved, flirty as usual as she had a rather country accent.

"Hey!" Josh greeted them back, still crouching by the fireplace to set it up.

Still not wanting to register everything, she looked back at Matthew before she felt something off about him. Her eyes looked up at him, seeing this odd flare of anger in his brown pupils towards Michael. Stiffening, she was unsure of what exactly was happening or even wrong, but she grabbed his arms out of instinct. "Uhm," She hummed, "Matt?" Her voice was hushed, trying to keep it low so that she didn't draw anybody attention.

"Make yourself at home, bro."

"Will do."

The conversation, or little that was, between Josh and Michael didn't dampen the look that Marceline was surprised to see in Matthew's eyes. Not once did he look at her or respond when she called his name. "Yeah. Come on in. Take a load off. Have whatever you want." The attitude; the snarky retort as well as the obvious sarcasm, and undertone of anger was unlike him. Never had she seen Matthew angry at anyone ( other than being frustrated by the impossible demands of Emily ). What did Michael do?

 _'What does Michael not do?'_ Marceline thought bitterly to herself. It was easy for her to take a side without even knowing what happened. Matthew was good, and a close friend of hers, and so if he was pissed at Michael, she was sure that his reason was legit. That's, at least, what she thought about the whole situation.

It took her by surprise at Matthew moved forward, acting really macho and showing that he wasn't afraid as he approached Michael. He looked like he was ready to tear him apart, and for that, she followed him,. Marceline still latching herself on his arm as she gazed back between the two of them as the hostility was becoming so thick and so visible, that it was starting to suffocate her since it was becoming overwhelming. "You just take whatever you want anyways, right?"

What did Matthew mean by that? 'This definitely has something to do with Emily, doesn't it?' She wondered, shaking her head at the irony of the situation. It was ironic that Matthew was worried about how things were going to be when Jessica and Emily saw one another, but here he was on the attack again Michael. Well, he did look pissed earlier? Was Michael the source of that?

"Whoa." Michael looked confused and held out his hands defensively, "Easy there, cowboy." Wait, how come Michael had no idea that Matthew was angry with him or what he could possible be angry at him about? Marceline then noticed Michael shift his attention to her, subtly ignoring Matthew for a moment. "Hey Marceline." He greeted her with a half smile.

Little did he know, the jock was not letting this conversation go. And finally, Marceline could receive some answers. "What the hell were you doing with Emily out on the trail, huh?" Matthew interrogated him, not backing down until he got his answers.

"What?" Still confused, Michael squinted skeptically. He really had no idea.

"I saw you and Em." Matthew pursued. "Through the telescope."

"Before?" Michael asked, seemingly not alarmed by what Matthew was questioning him about. "We just ran into each other." He answered, seeing none of this as no big deal. "It's been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?"

Marceline quirked a brow, feeling uneasy at the admission. That didn't sound trustworthy, at least in her eyes. She was sure she would feel jealous if Joshua ran into his ex and hugged her and she caught it through a telescope. I mean, who wouldn't be? Well, maybe someone really secure about their relationship and she had no reason to doubt Joshua. Now that she felt silly about that whole comparison she thought up…. Maybe it was just a simple hug but it didn't mean someone wouldn't feel uneasy about it, especially with the way Matthew found out about it.

"Right." Matthew forced a smile, nodding as he decided to take the high road. He wasn't a confrontational person, so it didn't come as a surprise to her. "Yeah, duh." Rubbing his neck with his free hand, Marceline sighed in relief that a fight didn't break out. At least she could count on Matthew for not letting this escalate. "Sorry, it's been kind of a long day. I overreacted."

"Nah, man, don't worry about it." Michael dismissed it, maturely, which surprised her. Michael and being mature? That just never would've went together for the time she knew him. She knew he had his moments, but that only when he was in front of the podium in school. Outside of school and with them? He was hardly the mature class president that teachers fawned over and the other kids looked up to.

"We cool?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Totally." Michael glanced at Marceline, who shifted her eyes away. She didn't want to talk to him, and he read that loud and clear. With a stiff nod, he made his way over to Jessica on the sheet covered couch and Marceline's rubbed Matthew's arm to soothe his wounded pride. Even though Matthew had a right to be angry, she knew it took a lot to just let things go; boys and their ego..

He smiled at her gesture and she has casually let go. He needed time to himself, she reasoned. Without thought, she walked over towards Joshua at the fireplace and crouched down next to him. She couldn't help but wonder if he knew about the whole Michael and Jessica situation, "Did you know?" She asked, "Did you know about Mike and Jess?"

"Yeah," He answered, "but I didn't tell you because you were still on your Carrie rage." Her eyes narrowed as he snickered at his own remark. With a roll of her eyes, she lightly pushed him, which caused him to fall on his bum. "Hey!" He shouted, with a hmph and a smirk, she stood up and then turned to see Emily, who decided to make her grand entrance.

Well, this was sure to be one of hell of a scene.

Glancing over at Jessica, she waited to see what Matthew was afraid of. So the two fell out over Michael? That's how it seemed. Did Jessica break the code of not dating your best friend's ex-boyfriend? "Oh. My God. That is so gross." Emily commented upon the sight of Jessica and Michael snuggled up together on the couch. "Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

"Em…" Matthew called her name, trying to calm her and distract her from locking up with Jessica.

"Seriously, can she be any more obvious?" Emily, arms crossed, tried to get to get her point across. "No one wants in on your territory, honey."

Jessica, not having it, decided to argue back as she stood up from her comfortable spot on the couch. "Excuse me, did you say something?"

"Oh did you not hear me? Was your sluttiness too loud?"

Marceline looked back and forth as they continued their argument, which was petty and just overall unnecessary. Her eyes looked to Michael, and she found him staring back at her. He could obviously read the look on her face that clearly read: _'Why the fuck aren't you doing anything? That's your girlfriend. Stop this.'_

She already knew his answers from the look on his face alone. _"I'm not in this"_ and _"They need to hash things out."_ as well as _"No way am I getting in the middle of that just to get clawed."_

He never took responsibility. Never.

At least Matthew was trying to stop Emily, but even that didn't earn him no brownie points. "Shut up, Matt—"

"Stay out of it you dumb oaf." Jessica words had ticked her off. Infuriated, Marceline stood in front of Matthew protectively with her eyes nearly turning into slit.

"Hey, watch it." Emily warned her, but Marceline wasn't letting Jessica off the hook with that alone.

"What the fuck? You got a lot of _nerve_ calling someone a dumb oaf, Jessica." Marceline was not going to allow anyone to walk on top of him, not even his own girlfriend and definitely not Jessica.

Jessica was stunned by Marceline's interference and her words. There was a flash of hurt and anger in her blue eyes, but it didn't make the brunette budge or apologize. Her eyes stared back at Jessica, who looked back Emily and then at her.

They continued their argument, with Emily rightfully calling Jessica a bitch even though she was being one herself for starting the argument in the first place. It was really none of Emily's business what Jessica and Michael were doing. They both moved on in their respective relationships, so why not just ignore each other?

"I don't give a crap what any of you think!" Jessica bit back, making her way back to Michael.

"At least I can think. 4.0 bitch, honor roll." Emily smugly said, her stance and head tilted in an arrogant pose.

Marceline sighed, shaking her head. The cattiness of the whole situation took new heights. "Emily, stop! This is out of hand. There's no reason to fight like this." And here was Matthew, desperately trying to be peacemaker even after he was told to shut up and name called.

"Yeah, Em! Why you pickin' fights over your ex-boyfriend? Huh?" Even though the blonde had a point, she was doing the exact opposite of what Matthew wanted.

"Stop it!" Joshua cut in, "This is not why we came up here. This is not…helping." Marceline's eyes slowly looked up at him, feeling guilty and partially at fault for not stopping the argument and also adding herself into it. She lowered her head shamefully. "It's not what I wanted. If we can't get alone for ten minutes then maybe we need a little break, right?"

Hopefully Joshua's suggestion would work. Marceline found herself wanting to be away from them and to avoid Joshua due to her guilt. She made her way up the stairs, seeing this as the best thing to do after she played a small and stupid role in that stupid fight. It felt even colder when she reached the second floor, she even found herself shivering and closing her eyes briefly as her body shook.

When she finally opened her eyes, her eyes looked at the door with the large "B" on it. It felt like time had became still as she stared, her eyes wide. She didn't know what possessed her to walk towards it, but she did until the door was finally in front of her. Her hand slowly rose, the pads of her fingers tracing over the letting with with a sad smile on her lips.

"You and I are going to sleep in my room!" Beth's voice resounded in her head. "We should plan to go somewhere for Graduation. I can't believe it's coming up in four months!"

Her became glassy, blurring her vision. Beth would never know how hurt she was on Graduation day to not see her or Hannah in their cap and gown. She would never know how empty Josh looked at graduation, only being there for her and their friends instead of his sisters too. Beth would never know how it felt to have that diploma in her hands, to be relieved that high school was finally over.

Leaning her head against the door, she blinked away her tears and took a deep sigh.

"I miss you, Beth."

"Marceline?" Sam's voice brought her back to reality, and she slowly turned to look at her. The empathy that was in Sam's eyes eased her and she forced herself to smile.

"Don't worry, I'm alright." Marceline said, grabbing her arm as she pushed herself off the door. Her steps were slow as she approached Samantha. "Gonna go take that bath you've been dreaming of since we came here?"

"Yep!" Grateful that she wasn't questioning her, Marceline then nodded. "Oh, and let's make hot cocoa when I'm done, kay?" Marceline snorted, which confused her. "What? What's so funny?"

"Remember the last time we made hot cocoa?" Raising a brow, Marceline looked down stairs at Chris. "We totally gave Chris diarrhea for a week."

Chuckling, she shook her head. "Gross! I was _trying_ to forget that."

"He was so mad at us." Marceline continued on, "And Beth gave him a toilet seat for Christmas and said: "Pretty sure yours was broken." He was even _more_ pissed." Wrapping her arms around her stomach, Samantha tried her best not to laugh to the point of tears.

"Joshua brought him that kids book: "Everyone's Poops" too." Marceline wiped a tear as Sam punched her shoulder, obviously having enough since she could barely breathe. "So yeah, let's have tea instead. I don't trust us with hot coco anymore only Hannah could do that." Her head lowered upon the mention of Hannah.

Even Samantha found her laughter dying as her eyes held a rather sad look upon the mention of her best friend. Not wanting to let their minds wander down that sad road, she piped up. "Alright, after my bath, let's have some tea."

Separating, Marceline had made her way towards Josh's room. It was a good thing that her suitcase could also be a backpack or else she probably would've lost in during the whole mind mush of being back in this place and the fights. Slipping it off her back, she placed it down beside his bed and took off her coat, just to shiver from the warmth it was giving that was now gone away.

She thought she dressed rather weather appropriate with the wool, black turtleneck but it wasn't enough to keep her completely warm. Her hand absently went to the necklace Joshua's brought her, rubbing the cold and smooth metal in-between her thumb and pointer finger in thought. Maybe she shouldn't sleep here with Josh, she knew what would be on his mind if he did but it would be warmer than sleeping by herself.

"Waiting for me?" Not surprised this time, she turned to face Josh with a smile as he walked in and placed his bags down.

"Nope." She answered matter-of-factly. "I was debating if I should sleep here or not actually."

"What?" Marceline snickered at how quickly his smile fell as he inched over to her, "Why would you leave me in here alone? In the cold?" He questioned, hands already resting themselves on her waist and his forehead pressed against hers. "You know, sometimes I can't help but think my girlfriend likes to hear me beg."

Looking up in thought, she shrugged her shoulders as she pulled on his grey and white plaid shirt that remained unbuttoned. "I like to hear you beg as much as you like when I speak French."

She didn't have to look at him to tell what he was thinking, and she could feel his face inching closer but she swiftly turned away and made her way over to the dresser. "I need to take my vitamins."

Frustrated, Joshua sighed and glanced over at her. "When's the last time you took them?"

"I take them twice a day once in the morning and again at night." Marceline said, remembering that she had took them in the morning. "I'll just need to take them again." Making her way towards her suitcase, she opened the small front part but was stopped by Josh's hand.

"Shouldn't you eat first?" A look of dawning came over her face, she had hit the palm of her hand against her forehead.

"Right." Standing up, she then poked his chest. "Nuggets. Did you get 'em?"

"They're in the freezer, m'am." Making his way to towards the door way, he then turned back to look at her. "I'll make him since if I let you do it, you'll burn the whole place down."

"Oh, shut up!" With a pout, she watched him leave with a smirk before looking back down at her suitcase. "It wouldn't hurt if I took them now." Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out the small, yellow-capped bottle and shook them to check if she had a lot of them left. Walking towards the bathroom, she used the sink water to help swallow two of the pills down. Shaking her hands, she quickly got a towel to dry them off before making her back in the the bedroom.

It seemed sudden, but the room fell like it was spinning and her legs felt like they were ready to give out at any minute. Her hand pressed against her head, her face leaning into it as she felt a pounding headache throb like a drum. "What the hell?" She murmured, not sure what was happening. "Josh was probably right, I should've…" She stumbled forward and back, "…I should've ate before I took 'em." Her speech was slurred as she struggled to make her way to the bed, wincing as she forced herself to lay down and curl up due to the cold.

Maybe sleep would help. Sleep usually rid her of headaches.

Not thinking anymore of it, she forced her eyes close and decided to take a nap.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : I was dying when I got the idea of Josh called her Kayako, the ghost from The Grudge, because I found out the boy's cat is named Mar and that's what Chris calls her. Lmao.


	9. Chapter Nine: Voices

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.

 **Author's Note:** This chapter is short, I'm sorry. Laptop is acting pretty stupid lately but I promise I won't keep you guys hanging like this.

* * *

 **7 Hours Until Dawn...**

 _"It must be easy to sleep."_

She was awake, at least she thought she was. Her body felt stiff as it laid on the bed beneath her and the voices grew louder.

 _"After you left us…"_

Her eyes wanted to open but they remained closed, yet beneath her eyelids she could feel her eyes moving. It hadn't mattered how much she tried to move, her body was still and the tingle of goosebumps went up her arms. The feeling was beyond terrifying, but nothing scared her more than the disembodied voices that seemed to come every which way. They were filled with anger and anguish, making her skin burn every time they spoke. Each word that left them make her feel immense guilt because deep down she knew who was speaking to her, but she didn't want to face the,.

 _"How could you leave us like that, Marceline? I thought we were friends!"_

Still swallowed by darkness, she was grateful she couldn't see anything. She was too scared to face them, especially since how infuriated they sound. How could she face them when they were so angry at her.

 _"You left us to die!"_

 _'I didn't leave you. I would never leave you!'_ Marceline fought hard enough to speak, but each syllable she tried to speak made her throat burn as if she wasn't even supposed to speak. Her esophagus felt inflamed and her heart felt like it was ready to pound right out of her chest or tear itself apart if she couldn't do the former.

 _"̫̭̫̥̰̳̘Y̝̤̙͔o͇u̫̥̳̫ ͚̦͇̥l̤͖̰͚̭͖e̬͕̞ft͕̠̣̯̘̻͉ ̫͕ͅus̗͙̥̭!̺"_  
 _͇̦"̰͙Y̬̤̹͕ou̩͇ le͉̰̥͓f̯̘̦̫͍͍̭t̝̬̼͍̖̭ ͍͈͓͓͔͖͈u̮̙̙̮̳̜̪s͍̖ͅ!̻"̥_  
 _͚̰"͔̰͚͇̝Y̖͇͖̪O̲͈U͈̻̩̳̭̬ ̯L̞EF̪̣̟̖̳̖T ̳̥͍̠Ṵ̮̫͔̩̲̥S̯̦̪̞̞̘!͙͔̪̲̞"̹͙̖̳̼_

With a loud gasp, she managed to jolt her body forward from the bed and let her eyes be wide open. Panting, her chose would rise up and down just as quick as her heart was racing; her lungs fighting for air to breathe as if she been holding her breath. Her hands were shaking, arms and body glistened with a thin sheet of sweat. Without being in control, tears slipped down the corner of her eyes as she slowly pulled her knees to her chest. Marceline could still feel that burning, constricting feeling in her throat and her skin glittered with goosebumps despite the fact she was warm to touch and was sweating minutes ago. A sob nestled itself in her throat, fearing to slip out as she tried to keep her sadness and fear bottled in. Why was she having nightmares like this? She had been without them for months.

In efforts to calm herself, she took deep inhales and long exhales with her eyes closed as she tried to focus on the rapid beating of her heart in her chest. She couldn't leave the room like this. She couldn't let Josh see her like this. Her body was still trembling, trying to calm the shakes along with her breathing exercise but it wouldn't stop. Even though she was sitting in the odd comfort of silence, her body just wasn't ready to calm itself. "You're okay, Marceline. You're _okay_." She calmly told herself, trying to reassure her mind that she was safe and that it was just a dream; just a nightmare. With a few more inhales and exhales, she nodded as she felt her composure coming back. Maybe a shower would help, she didn't want to go downstairs all sweaty and gross.

Climbing off the bed, she went to her suitcase and zipped it open in efforts to find an outfit to wear. She had to feel grateful for bringing another extra set of clothes, just in case something happened. Looking through her things, she felt the pill bottle and pulled it out, and to her surprise it wasn't her vitamins. It was Joshua's medication. "Huh?" Marceline squinted her eyes in confusion, her eyes reading the description. _'I guess I must've grabbed them when I was at his apartment… I must've mistaken them for my vitamins_ _…_ _'_ Looking for her own vitamins, she realized they weren't in the suitcase. _'Fuck, so I took his pills instead? No wonder I felt weird… Wait… This hasn't… This hasn't been refilled since December? … And there's so many left… Has Josh? No way, he wouldn't do that… Why would he not take his medication? I'm over thinking; this is probably a spare or his old ones…'_ With a shake of her head, brushing off any of the ridiculous notions in her head, she had grabbed a new pair of clothes and laid them out on the bed.

After her shower, with loosened her tense muscles and cleared her head, she changed into fresh clothes. Marceline was glad she could wear her new black, turtleneck sweater since she felt it would keep her warmer than the thin shirt she had on before. Although she promised herself to lay off black, but she also wore a pair of black jeans. At least the boots were brown and she wouldn't have to hear Sam complain about the lack of color in her clothes. Since her hair was still damp, she opted to put it up in a ponytail with her grey scrunchie and slid her cellphone in her front pocket before leaving the room. It was far too quiet and it had her wondering just what everyone was up to before sneaking off and doing her research. It would be wise to know where everyone was before she went off on her own.

Not a single light was on, there were just candles lighting up the place and she couldn't hear anyone. A bunch of teenagers in a cabin? How could it possibly be this quiet? It made her cautious as she took another step down the open stairway. "Josh?" She called out, her eyes looking all over the place. "Chris? Sam?" Not a peep. She didn't hear not a single person and she felt like there wasn't a single person here either. That didn't make much sense though because where would everyone possibly be anyway? Going down the steps, she had seen a table with a lone candle but there was something eye-catching ontop of it. After continuing down the steps, she walked her way over to the table to see what looked to be a ouija board. "Wow, really? How cliche…" She could help but snort, but she noticed the pointer on the floor.

"I wonder who wanted to do this? Hopefully not Josh…" The last thing she wanted to believe was that they used this thing to contact Hannah or Beth. He didn't need that and even though he kept trying to reinforce everyone to believe that he was fine, it still wasn't a good idea. It wasn't good for him to hurt himself like that. Picking the wooden pointer, she placed it back on top of the board and looked down the hall. Maybe everyone in the cinema? They could've decided to watch a movie after having their fun with the ouija board. It made sense, at least to. "Let's stop at the kitchen first." She was thirsty and hungry. She really wished she followed Joshua's suggestion and ate earlier. Now that she thought about, she really didn't know what time it was.

Flicking on the light switch, she jumped when she heard a sudden thump and completely spun on her heels to turn around. Looking left and right, she tried to find what was the cause of the sound. "Tch, you guys better not think about pranking me! I thought we all learned our lessons about pranks, assholes!" Hearing and seeing nothing, she turned back around and made her way further in the kitchen. Opening the fridge door, she grabbed a bottle of water and closed the door with her hip as she tried to unscrew the top. There was a sticky note on an aluminum foil covered plate, which made her slide her way over to read it:

 **"Here's ur chicken nuggs, babe. Btw ur are soooo lame! How could u fall asleep this early? We're supposed 2 party like pornstars, remember? Now I'm gonna be the only one without the porn."**

Scrunching up her face, she knew well enough that Josh wrote it, it was obvious and she found herself rolling her eyes at the frowning face that was drawn at the corner. With a refreshing, well-wanted chug of water, she placed the water bottle on top of the counter and removed the foil. "I'm not lame…" Marceline mumbled, picking up the bite-sized nugget before dipping it in the sauce cup of barbecue sauce in the center.

"Oh yeah, that's the good stuff… Even though it got kinda cold." Not that it really mattered, she would keep eating them anyway since it didn't matter to her whether they were hot or cold. Humming to herself, she ate a few more until she heard that loud thump coming from upstairs like she heard before. It didn't scare her this time but made her rather frustrated instead. "You guys! This isn't funny, y'know!" Annoyed, she recovered the plate before marching her way out of the kitchen and moving back so that she could get a good glimpse of the stairway. Her eyes narrowed as she flickered them across to not see a single person. "Maybe the place is just settling." It felt like a lie—and it was one too—but it did comfort her. Either someone was messing with her or maybe someone else was upstairs. How could that be anyway? Nobody could just show up at the cabin, right?

Shaking her head to reassure herself, the brown-haired girl slid her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "Fuck! I slept for that long?"

The clock read: 12:41 a.m., Which was way later than she anticipated, and a good enough call to wonder if everyone settled for watching a movie. What else could they be doing? Well, Jessica and Mike could be doing a number of things in the guest cabin and she wasn't all too sure if she wanted to even think about just what they were doing.

Freezing, her body tensed as she slowly looked around. "Is that…" Leaning forward, she tried to key into the sounds. "Music?" It was low at first, having to be completely still so she could hear it until it became louder and louder in volume and rang in her ears. It was easy to recognize and it made her jaw clench as stood there:

 _"Frère Jacques~ Frère Jacques~"_

The blood in her veins went cold, her eyes widenening as one of the two voices she craved to hear in a whole year was filling her ears.

 _"Dormez-vous! Dormez-vous!"_

"H-Hannah..." Her name spilled past her lips like a spell as she felt glued to the floor with her heart pumping in the same speed if not more than when she forced herself awake from her nightmare. "H-Hannah!"

This had to be a trick, right? Why would Hannah be here? And singing nonetheless. This had to be some sort of game, but it was sick and she didn't want to imagine that any of her friends were that sick. They wouldn't do that to her… At least she wanted to believe they wouldn't.

 _"Sonnez lez matines! Sonnez les matines!"_

"Stop it!" Marceline placed her hands on her ears, shutting out Hannah's voice. "Hannah… That's not Hannah! Who are you? Why are you using her?!"

Yet Hannah kept singing, repeating the song over and over as Marceline finally found the strength to move with her teeth grinding against each other. She couldn't find anything as a weapon except the lamp nearby and she slowly walked towards it, trying to make her eyes scan every which way in case someone popped out. "You sick bastard! When I'll find you, I'll beat the shit out of you!" Grabbing the lamp, she pulled the cord from its socket and held it up, her eyes wide with anger and fear. Whoever was doing this, they would face her wrath if they dared stepped to her.

"Marceline, Marceline." Petrified, she looked around but couldn't find the voice attached to a body. It sounded distorted and deep. It was definitely meant to mask over the real owner of the voice, "Such a beautiful girl, but your temper…Tsk tsk tsk… It can prove to be _quite_ deadly."

"Who the fuck are you? W-Where are my friends? Did you… Did you hurt them? Where's Josh?! Josh!" A million thoughts started to crash, bouncing off the walls of her brain as she was trying to connect the pieces together. Where were they taken or were they hurt? Whoever this person was… what did they do? What did they _want_? And Josh? Was he alive? Was he safe? If she hadn't taken those stupid pills then she would've been by his side. He would've been with her and she could've protected him. He needed her and she was there.

Growing more frustrated—more so at herself—her eyes began to gloss with hot tears. "Your friends? They're safe." Their words didn't soothe her; just how the hell could she be relieved? She couldn't trust them. She couldn't trust them at all. "Well, _Joshua_ might not be."

Gripping tightly onto the body of the lamp, her eyes shot upwards to look for any sort of camera that could be seen. "W-What?! What… What's wrong with Josh? Why wouldn't he be safe?! Don't hurt him! Oh, God no! Please, _please_ don't…" Her body slumped forward, her shoulders shaking as she tried to swallow the sob that was crawling up her throat. She had to be strong. Marceline couldn't falter right here. He could be lying… He could be. Joshua could be fine and this _person_ just wanted her weak.

"It all depends on what actions Chris takes for Joshua to live." Her brows furrowed, her brown eyes staring down at the floor in painful shock. "Chris will choose whether Joshua lives… or he dies."

"Why?!" Marceline screamed, "Why does he have to make that decision?! Why are you using Joshua like this?!" A decision? Did that mean Chris had to choose between Joshua and someone else? The only person she could imagine it being was—"Oh… Oh no, Ashley! No! No! _No_!"

"Smart, aren't you?" This voice, this person… They were taunting her. They enjoyed getting this reaction out of her.

"You sick fucker!" No, she wouldn't let Chris make this choice. She would make sure there wasn't even a choice to make. Running towards the entryway, the brunette grabbed her coat ( and luckily her scarf along with it ) from the sheet-covered couch and ran towards the door. It wouldn't budge, the knob feeling like it constantly slipped through her fingers.

Why wouldn't it move? Did they put something over the door to make her unable to open it? "Stupid!" She opted to kick it, "Fucking!" And another kick, "Door!" Another, "Open up!" Each kick proved worthless for the door was sealed shut.

"You're not leaving, Marceline." The voice even followed her here? Marceline tried to search for cameras again but she couldn't find any. They must've hid them in real secluded areas because she couldn't find them at all. Maybe because it was dark didn't help either, "You're not leaving until Chris makes his decision."

"When I find you, you son of a bitch… I'm going to rip your fucking heart out, you got it?! Mark my words, motherfucker!" There had to be another way out. Marceline looked towards the window and back at the lamp, she could break it and climb out and then she wouldn't have to suffer this mental torture and save Josh. Chris, he would save Ashley wouldn't he? Even though Joshua had been his best friend for years, he would be willing to let him go for Ashley because he loved her. Marceline understood his choice—if he had decided to choose or chose Ashley as she assumed he would—she'd choose Joshua over anyone else. The pain of killing someone you care about would never go away and she didn't want to lose Joshua, but she also didn't want Chris to be tortured by his decision for the rest of his life. He was her friend too, and just imagining what this would do to him and how it would eat away at him... How could she just do nothing?

Throwing the lamp through the window, she hurried on her coat and scarf and used the sleeves to push out the stray shards of glass that was protruding from the edges. "Is Joshua really worth all of this to you?" The voice said to her, making her freeze halfway as she looked down in thought.

"He's worth it and more to me." Marceline said, defiance in her voice as well as sincerity. "I'd give up my life for him." Without another word, she climbed through and made her way to small outside floor of the lodge. It didn't take her a minute more to push her body, running into the flurry of snowfall and deep snow for her to break out in a sprint.

"Sam, you better be alright. I can't lose you either." Mumbling to herself, slowed down and went into a wall, using the light of her phone to brighten her path. Looking every which way, she kept stomping her feet through the snow and occasionally looked behind her to see if she was being followed. Whoever that strange, voiced person was could probably be on their way to search for her and now she was weaponless since she broke the lamp. Marceline wasn't that much of a fighter but her pride wouldn't allow her to not fight until her last breath.

 _"Tell me you won't go running off like last time?"_

Her eyes closed briefly, remembering that Josh uttered those words to her earlier. _'I know I said I wouldn't but I have to… I have to save you.'_ Even though he couldn't hear her thoughts, she wondered if Josh would forgive her for running out here in attempt to search for him. He'd probably be angry about it and she hated whenever Joshua was angry with her. It was a rare thing; to see him angry, especially at her. It always left her feeling the worse because she knew every time he was, it was always justified. He always pretended like everything was okay, even when he was upset with her. His smiles weren't as bright and he wasn't as playful even though he tried to be. Marceline always tried her best to never disappoint him, but there shouldn't be a reason why he'd be angry that she wanted to save him.

A howl or a screech suddenly screamed into the air and made her cease her walking. Her head moved every which way as her eyes looked over the area, trying to identify what could make that sound. Her head was beginning to ache, feeling a flood of familiarity. She heard it before but she couldn't remember when? Her head felt like it was about to spin the more she tried to remember when she last heard that sound.

 _"Get away from here!" "It's dangerous out here!"_

It was odd, to suddenly hear a person she swore she never heard before's voice. Why did she suddenly recall a man's voice? And she couldn't put the voice with a body either. Shaking her head, she tried to empty her head with thoughts that had nothing to do with saving Josh. She couldn't be distracted by anything else. He was her number one priority.


End file.
